Sam Torrance Urges Europe To Name Lee Westwood As Ryder Cup Captain

Four-time Ryder Cup winning player Sam Torrance has claimed Lee Westwood should lead the European bid to regain the trophy from Team USA in Italy in 2023.

The winning European Captain from the 2002 event insisted the next captain should still be an active player on tour and also sounded a note of optimism on Europe’s future Ryder Cup prospects, despite their record 19-9 defeat to the USA in Wisconsin in September.

I’m not concerned about Team Europe.

“There’s another new era coming through and I think with the likes of the Hojgaard twins, Guido Migliozzi and Viktor Hovland, we have some fantastic young players coming through and it’s very exciting.

“The US team from this year was the strongest I’d seen in a long, long time. They said that the team in 1981 was the best ever from America, but I think 2021 surpasses it.

“They had very little scar tissue in their line-up. I could never have foreseen such a big margin of victory, but I could feel the cohesion and raw ability from them ahead of the tournament, so the result did not surprise me.

“It’s something we have to fight back on and get the upper hand again. But I don’t think we as Europe have to change the process too much, some personnel changes to a fresh crop like the US did this year is a very good place to start. One thing’s for sure, it’ll be a totally different team for 2023.

“With a lot of younger players, Europe needs someone like Lee Westwood to lead them next time, who is still a great and popular player on tour and will have a connection with these less experienced golfers as they would know him from playing with him.

“That is absolutely essential. One of the most important things about a Ryder Cup captain is they are still on tour and can be relatable, as opposed to someone who may not be in touch as much with the players. Someone who has won it all thwm decades ago won’t mean much to a current crop of ambitious youngsters who know they will get there themselves one day.

“For America, I’d give the next captaincy to Freddie Couples in a heartbeat as I love him – but whether they will is another matter.”

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