McGinley

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McGINLEY RESIGNS AS FALDO LIEUTENANT

Paul McGinley on Wednesday stood down as an assistant to Ryder Cup captain Nick Faldo - four months after sitting alongside him and saying "what a great honour" it was.

Faldo confirmed McGinley's resignation on the eve of leading a Britain and Ireland team against Continental Europe in the Seve Trophy at The Heritage west of Dublin.

But, despite stories in Irish newspapers of Faldo snubbing McGinley by naming England's Simon Dyson and Scot Marc Warren as his two wild cards for this week's match, Faldo said the decision had nothing to do with that.

"From the very start he was concerned about the workload - the bottom line is that he wants to play," stated Faldo.

McGinley and Jose Maria Olazabal, two members of last year's winning side, were named as Faldo's two deputies in May, although both made it clear then they still wanted to be part of the 2008 team in Louisville.

McGinley said in a statement released by the European Tour: "It was a great honour to be picked by Nick, but on reflection, and after careful consideration, I feel it's in my best interest to concentrate on playing myself into the team, which I said from the outset was my first objective.

"I've played the last three matches and I want to play at Valhalla. I've been very fortunate - I've played three Ryder Cups, won all three, two by record margin's, under three great captains (Sam Torrance, Bernhard Langer and Ian Woosnam) and now I want to play for Nick and bring the cup back to Europe again."

Hmmm...this should really be taken at face value, but I can't help but feel that there's more to this.

Anyhow, best of luck to McGinley on trying to secure his place.

copacetic

probably Paul realised after being snubbed for this that there was no chance of a wildcard for the ryder cup and he had to qualify by right.

Faldo is a muppet though for the Seve picks, the crowds will be tiny with no Irish involved.

Sandwich

Its possible, but that seems a bit too petulant for a guy who appears fairly level headed. I find it hard to think he would ever have though, being picked as a vice captain, that there was ever a chance that Faldo would pick him if he didnt qaulify automatically for the team. While its possible that he could qualify, I would say the odd are pretty long, so its most likely that he will now end up with no role at all to play in the next Ryder Cup.

Marshy

copacetic wrote:

Faldo is a muppet though for the Seve picks, the crowds will be tiny with no Irish involved.

Yeah thats right, amazed he didn't go for someone like Clarke. He's always been a strange one at times though Nick. Ok theres no-one aside from Padraig inside the top 100 I think but from a PR point of view its a bad mistake.

Paul has had a wretched year really and probably doesn't want the added distraction of thinking of the vice-captaincy.

copacetic

Marshy wrote:

Yeah thats right, amazed he didn't go for someone like Clarke. He's always been a strange one at times though Nick. Ok theres no-one aside from Padraig inside the top 100 I think but from a PR point of view its a bad mistake.

Paul has had a wretched year really and probably doesn't want the added distraction of thinking of the vice-captaincy.

i could understand it more if he hadn't picked someone like Warren who is also outside the top 100, one place behind McDowell in fact!

Marshy

copacetic wrote:

i could understand it more if he hadn't picked someone like Warren who is also outside the top 100, one place behind McDowell in fact!

Yeah well thats just very strange. Seems to like causing controversy though.

the boss of me

Marshy wrote:

Yeah well thats just very strange. Seems to like causing controversy though.

Hardly surprisng though is it ? It is Nick Faldo after all !!

clg23

Its a joke, a british and Irish team playing in Ireland without 1 Irish player. I cant imagine the crowds being big at all now. McGinley has proved himself in team events even when his form hasnt been good. He was right to quit and I'll be cheering on the Europeans this weekend..

Sandwich

Faldo is absolutely right not to pick McGinley.
If the competition is ever to aquire some competitive credibilty then he must pick the best team available to him. Picking a guy for a bit of locally interest would just undermine whatever fragile reputation the ST has, and shows Faldo is taking the job seriously rather than just as an exhibition game.

copacetic

Sandwich wrote:

Faldo is absolutely right not to pick McGinley.
If the competition is ever to aquire some competitive credibilty then he must pick the best team available to him. Picking a guy for a bit of locally interest would just undermine whatever fragile reputation the ST has, and shows Faldo is taking the job seriously rather than just as an exhibition game.

What do you mean the best team? You say Warren is better than McGinley, better than the 60 or so other europeans ahead of him on the rankings?
what about McDowell then?

Also how about the fact that he offered the spot to McGinley and then retracted it ? How seriously does that show he is taking it?

I'm not sure how the competition is going to be enhanced by empty galleries and the 'home' not being supported by the small number of fans that are there.

I really don't understand your logic at all. They are called wild card picks for a reason.

Sandwich

copacetic wrote:

What do you mean the best team? You say Warren is better than McGinley, better than the 60 or so other europeans ahead of him on the rankings?

I am not arguing the merits of McGinley versus anyone else. Just the right (and responsibilty) of Faldo to pick the best team as he sees it. You can disagree with him, but to suggest he should pick and Irish guy just because the team is B & I is nonsense. If no Irish guys merit inclusion then they should not be on it just because they are Irish and the comp is being played in Irl. If the best available players were all Irish then they should be all Irish. etc. etc.

copacetic

I couldn't disagree more strongly on that, it's not 'just because the team is GB&I' it is because of that, there is no 'just'. Similary to the Lions in rugby or the Irish rugby or hockey teams, there are traditions that should be respected. There is no doubt that the team would be better supported and not affected at all playing wise by having an Irish player on there. The support alone could have been worth a point or two. The fact the Faldo seemingly didn't think about or realise there was even an issue shows he is lacking in the mental capacity as a captain. He doesn't understand the team dynamic imo. I don't have much time for Monty either as an individual but his comments this week shows he will be a better captain than Faldo.

Player picking Mike Weir for the presidents cup because it was in Canada this weekend shows how it should be done.

WHIP IT!

Sandwich wrote:

Faldo is absolutely right not to pick McGinley.
If the competition is ever to aquire some competitive credibilty then he must pick the best team available to him. Picking a guy for a bit of locally interest would just undermine whatever fragile reputation the ST has, and shows Faldo is taking the job seriously rather than just as an exhibition game.

Faldo's comments on the matter don't back up your argument Sambo... He pretty much said he picked the players he did to gain Ryder Cup-like experience with next year in mind...

This doesn't suggest he takes the ST all that serious... It's hard viewing watching the empty galleries on a great course - McGinley in there would've made all the difference whilst, in my opinion, enhancing the overall talent of the team...

It's just common sense - Faldo is just being his typical stubborn self...

Marshy

Well, in truth, Paul has no right to feel aggrieved that he wasn't picked. He's played very poorly this year and despite his great record in such events he didn't deserve a place in the team IMO.

What I do find odd is the way Faldo overlooked McDowell who is higher than Marc Warren in the WGR. He should've played I think.

copacetic

again Marshy I think he has every right to be more than a little peeved, after being offered the place and then had it retracted. I don't see how you can say that gives him no right to be angry.

Marshy

copacetic wrote:

again Marshy I think he has every right to be more than a little peeved, after being offered the place and then had it retracted. I don't see how you can say that gives him no right to be angry.

Offered what place? He was never picked for the ST. He was given the Ryder vice-captaincy but has now stepped down from that. What was retracted?

copacetic

I thought I was very clear, he was offered a place on the side and it was retracted. As I point out earlier in the thread and reported all last week that you must have missed?

It was been reported in both both the Irish Times and the Irish Independent last week and carried on nearly every news agencies wires. Paul was offered a place on the team. It was the reason he didn't travel to the world cup. Apparently there was a problem contacting Dyson and the place was offered to Paul, then a few days later it was retracted when Dyson got it touch with Faldo to say they would play after all.

By all accounts Paul doesn't want to make a big deal about the farcial treatment but hasn't disagreed with the story.

See links below if you still don't believe it, or do a web search for the hundreds of similar stories.

http://www.ireland.com/sports/golf/2007/0927/1190324881590.html

http://www.independent.ie/sport/golf/mcginley-opens-can-of-worms-for-faldo-1089436.html?r=RSS

Marshy

Didn't hear about that at all. I was wondering what all the fuss was about.

Trampas

Is there a list of players who turned the option to play in the Seve trophy?

I know the auto picks list is available but is there an list of people who turned down wild card selection?