'16 Euro Ryder Cup Captaincy Decision Almost Here, Mercifully

A Reuters report says the 18th of February will be the day either Darren Clarke or Miguel Angel Jimenez get the buggy keys and while most think it's Clarke's job, the late run of Jimenez should give the gathering committee pause. Or they just like seeing his name out there to bring Clarke back to earth.

Jimenez is too busy leading another European Tour event, this time in Malaysia through 36.

And the 51-year-old can still dance:
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6'4" 14 Y.O. Teeing Up In Euro Tour's Qatar Masters

Brentley Romaine with a Golfweek.com note on Jakub Hrinda, the 14-year-old who qualified for this week's Commercial Bank Qatar Masters by winning the Qatar Open.

At an eye-opening 6'4" Hrinda isn't even close to being the youngest to play a European Tour event

Hrinda will be the 10th youngest player to make a European Tour start. The youngest is Ye Wo Cheng, who played in the 2013 Volvo China Open at 12 years, 242 days old.

“Being tall, I hit it a long way for my age, but I really focus on trying to make everything strong, not just one thing," Hrinda said. "My ballstriking right now is pretty good, so I’m happy with that.”

Hrinda's home course is Doha Golf Club and he's played it regularly since he moved to Qatar when he was 8 years old. Hrinda's father, Daniel, will serve as his caddie, too.

Rory Could Be "£25 Million Worse Off" If He Loses Case

Derek Lawrenson quotes Rory McIlroy at length from Tuesday's press conference where the Race To Dubai winner before the Race To Dubai officially ends spoke of how he doesn't see his Masters preparation impacted by legal proceedings.

Lawrenson writes:

‘Annoying and frustrating,’ is how the 25-year-old summed up being forced to sit out the first two events of the European Tour’s Final Series in China. It will be costly too, if he finishes on the losing side in the Dublin courtroom showdown, scheduled for February.

Those in Ireland who have been following the various machinations closely estimate he could be as much as £25million worse off if the worst-case scenario unfolds.

‘Of course I’m annoyed that it is still going on but there’s nothing I can do about it,’ McIlroy said. ‘We tried our best a few weeks ago to come to some sort of resolution and it didn’t work out. So yeah, it’s not the best thing to be going through but it will be over and done with a good bit before I have to go down Magnolia Lane (for the Masters) in April. As long as I’ve got a clear head going there, I’m happy with that.’

Lawrenson reports the blisters on McIlroy's hands speak to the level of his preparation for the Race conclusion. I know, more detail than you needed.

The Guardian's Ewan Murray took in McIlroy's remarks and reminds us that there is evidence to support Rory's ability to block out distractions.

 He has swapped managers, equipment, jilted his fiancee and finds himself as the No1 player in world golf. At Augusta next April he will seek to complete a grand slam of major championships before the age of 26.

Detail of interest to those fascinated by the legal wranglings and potential impact on McIlroy's game will want to read Brian Keogh's analysis of the press conference comments and recent goings on.

This alone suggests a strain that will inevitably distract McIlroy:

McIlroy might not be concerned about what emerges in the public domain but that’s not to say that others may not also be drawn into the public arena against their wishes.

The forensic scrutiny of laptops, mobile phones, text messages, emails and other documents in a case such as this could unleash an uncontrollable beast.

As it is, Horizon has asked McIlroy himself, his father Gerry, Rory Mcilroy Inc CEO Donal Casey, and McIlroy’s personal assistant/tour manager Sean O’Flaherty to produce documentation in the discovery process and much of what they have requested has not be turned over in full.

The process is designed to show that commercial platform Horizon built for Rory McIlroy was effectively commandeered by what is now Rory McIlroy Inc together with a large proportion of his management team.

Horizon’s lawyers will be trying to show through this discovery process that the takeover was planned over a lengthy period of time with many individuals directly and indirectly emerging as key movers.

Lawyers for Horizon appear to have had trouble securing all the documents they require and have brought a motion to the High Court to have their requests met in full.

As for Rory's golf, Karl MacGinty reviews the drama that surrounded Rory both on and off the course in this Irish Independent piece.

Meanwhile, on a lighter note McIlroy and Justin Rose attempted to re-create Henrik Stenson's epic shot from the 2013 Race's conclusion, as well as Rose's key chip in 2012 in those epic Race To Dubai moments that you've already forgotten.

Lawrie To Host New Euro Tour Match Play Event In Aberdeen

The Scotsman's Martin Dempster has the details on Paul Lawrie hosting a new European Tour event in his home city of Aberdeen during the week when the world's best are whapping it around dreary Firestone.

Murcar Links, which abuts Royal Aberdeen and has hosted professional events in the past, will be the site of the 64-player event featuring a €1 million purse. It's a straight up, single-elimination event which isn't ideal but any match play on a links livens up the schedule and provides a welcome alternative to watching golf at Firestone!

The tournament, named the Saltire Energy Paul Lawrie Match Play, will be held at the Murcar Links Golf Club, on the outskirts of Lawrie’ hometown of Aberdeen, from July 30 to August 2, 2015.

Boasting a prize fund of €1 million, the tournament will see 64 of the leading players on The Race to Dubai play against each other in a straight knockout, match play contest.

Lawrie, a stalwart of The European Tour for the past 23 seasons, will host the tournament, with his 4 Sports & Entertainment management firm promoting the competition.

Murcar, by the way, has the narrowest entrance drive in golf.

Regarding Lawrie, I just finished the latest By The Minute Golf podcast featuring Lawrie and it's a tremendous listen. The former Open Champion talks about spectating at this year's Ryder Cup, playing with Bubba Watson at the Masters (and what a fast player he is), Monty, the past Ryder Cups he's played (he doesn't think Brookline was the travesty that others do) and more.

Definitely worth a listen.