Padraig Harrington, Miguel Angel Jimenez and Jose María Olazabal have today been named by European captain Paul McGinley as the men who will complete his vice captaincy line-up for the Ryder Cup at Gleneagles.
McGinley will have five vice captains by his side for the contest against the United States, the trio joining Harrington’s fellow Irishman Des Smyth and Scotland’s Sam Torrance – who were announced in March – in the backroom staff line-up.
He said: “I am delighted to name Padraig, Miguel and Jose María as the men to join Des and Sam in completing my vice captaincy team for Gleneagles. They will all bring valuable insight and experience to the players and the team room.
“I know it’s been common in the past to have three or four vice captains but I’ve gone for five because I feel an extra person is justified due to the additional workload which comes from being the home team, in addition to how well I saw such a system working when we ended up having five vice captains under Colin Montgomerie at Celtic Manor in 2010.
“Padraig is my oldest friend on Tour and is a guy I have known most of my life. We went to school together, came through the amateur ranks together and have been together in many contests for both Ireland and Europe over the years, so I know what he can bring to the team room.
“As far as Miguel is concerned, he is someone that the spectators love as well as being very popular with all the players. However he is also a person that I respect very much. I have sat beside him for over a decade on the Tournament Players’ Committee and have seen him exhibit an integrity on many occasions that is very admirable.
“Miguel’s appointment also maintains the continuity I was looking for when I named him captain of the European team for the inaugural EurAsia Cup match in March. He did very well in Malaysia that week and all the players in that team enjoyed working with him. It will be the same at Gleneagles.
“Finally, Jose María’s passion for The Ryder Cup is recognised the world over. It was obvious in his legendary partnership with Seve and was also so very apparent two years ago at Medinah, so I’m delighted he has accepted my invitation to be involved again, once more maintaining that important continuity.”