Final Shot with Darren Clarke

Europe's Ryder Cup captain, who memorably won The Open in 2011 at Royal St George's, talks to Alex Jenkins about his own form, the EurAsia Cup and the state of modern technology and its effects on the game.

The Northern Irishman celebrates his finest moment at Royal St George's in 2011

Before next year's Ryder Cup, you have the task of captaining Europe against Asia in January's EurAsia Cup in Malaysia. You're a non-playing captain, which is different from the first edition, which saw Miguel Angel Jimenez take a playing captaincy role ...

They (European Tour) spoke to me about it some time ago and I wanted to do it myself. I know Paul had Miguel do it last year but I wanted to be more involved with the guys and to get closer to the guys to make some decision and to see how they react. I’m excited about it.

Who would you say has been the most inspirational Ryder Cup captain you've played under and will you be modelling your own captaincy under anyone in particular?

I think the most relaxed one yet and had everything covered was Sam Torrance. He did a wonderful job at the Belfry. He was absolutely brilliant. And then Seve (Ballesteros), he was inspirational. Bernhard Langer, he’s one of the most precise men in the game and Woosie (Ian Woosnam) at the K Club for me was very, very special. And Mark James, he did a great job at Brookline and the Americans just played better. I’ve been lucky to play for some really good captains. So a little bits of all of them (in his captaincy).

Is there any danger of underestimating the Asian team at the EurAsia Cup?

The Asian team, under no circumstances, will be underestimated. They are wonderful golfers and they are a very strong team. I’m sure Jeev [Milka Singh, Asia's captain] will do a brilliant job trying to motivate his guys as much as I’m going to try to motivate my guys.

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Written by Alex Jenkins

Photography by AFP

Click here to see the published article.

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