Darren Clarke has categorically denied being invited to become Europe's next Ryder Cup captain.
Last year's Open champion, one of Jose Maria Olazabal's assistants in the dramatic victory over the US at Medinah two weeks ago, went on Twitter following reports yesterday that he was about to be confirmed as the new skipper, and said: "To clarify ... I have not been offered the Ryder Cup captaincy.
"It's not decided by the committee until January. Would be a huge honour if asked."
Clarke and Paul McGinley, another of the Medinah vice-captains, are the two front-runners for the job at Gleneagles in 2014.
Lee Westwood has come out in favour of his former cup partner, but world No.1 Rory McIlroy has said he thinks Clarke might be a better fit for the match in Minnesota in 2016.
Ryder Cup director Richard Hills sought to dampen some of the speculation regarding the identity of the next European skipper.
He said: "No decision on the European captain for the 2014 Ryder Cup has been taken and none will be taken until at the earliest when the Tournament Committee next meets, most probably during the Middle East swing in early 2013."
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article