Irish golfer Padraig Harrington has been confirmed as Ryder Cup captain for Team Europe ahead of the tournament next year.
Harrington succeeds Thomas Bjorn for the 43rd instalment of the competition after an announcement at the European Tour’s headquarters in Wentworth.
The Irishman has served as a vice-captain at the last three Ryder Cups while being on the winning team four times. He will become the third Irish captain in four tournaments. Paul McGinley had the honour in 2014 and Darren Clarke in 2016.
Speaking at a press conference following the announcement, Harrington expressed his delight at the news.
I'm thrilled. It's not something I went into lightly. You could look at this as being a natural progression, a move on from player to vice-captain to captain but it's not something that I take on without a certain amount of trepidation.
I really want to be a help. I want to hopefully leave the European Tour and Ryder Cup in a better place after two years, but I know we are going to a new venue, it's an away match, we're going to have on average three more rookies coming into the team.
I have to be part of that team and ensure that I find an edge to make the team perform to the best of their abilities and hopefully get a win.
