Paul McGinley Named 2014 European Ryder Cup Captain

The European Tour has officially announced that Paul McGinley will captain the 2014 European Ryder Cup team.

McGinley, Darren Clarke and 2012 Ryder Cup Captain Colin Montgomerie had all been considered front-runners for the position.

Clarke took himself out of the running earlier this week when he announced that he wanted to concentrate more on his golf and not take on the responsibilities of Ryder Cup captain just yet.

Montgomerie was considered by many to be a favorite because the 2014 matches will take place at Gleneagles in his home country of Scotland, but was likely passed over because he had just captained the 2012 squad.

McGinley is arguably one of the least accomplished European Ryder Cup captains in history with just four career European Tour wins and no majors to speak of.  In fact, McGinley has just two top-10 finishes in 28 major championship appearances and has missed the cut in nearly half of those appearances.  

McGinley would have been considered for the position based almost solely on being a member of three victorious European Ryder Cup teams during his career (2002, 2004 and 2006), although McGinley’s Ryder Cup record is a respectable but very average 2-2-5.  

The good news for McGinley is that he is taking over a team that has won seven out of the last nine matches against the United States, including wins in five of the last six, and is showing no signs of slowing any time soon. With talent like this, all McGinley will likely need to do is get out of the way and say "go play."

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