Lee Westwood: I don't want to be too old and out of touch as a Ryder Cup captain

Lee Westwood smiles during his press conference ahead of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship. Picture: Getty Images

The Englishman decided not to put his hat in the ring for the 2020 post at Whistling Straits, paving the way for Padraig Harrington to be appointed last week.

Instead, Westwood has his sights set on the 2022 match, which will be staged at Marco Simone Golf Club near Rome.

“I’d love to have it in Italy. I’ll not lie to you,” said the 45-year-old as he prepared to start his 2019 campaign in the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship. “That would be ideal for me to be captain in Italy.

“I’ll be 49, and that’s the ideal time to be captain in my point of view. I’ll still be playing out here. I’ll still be in touch with the players.

“At the start of every year now, I walk up and down the range, and there will be some people that I have no idea who they are. It will almost be 50/50 who I know and who I don’t.

“So you’ve got to be out here so you can keep an eye on the new talent coming out and you know about the players that are going to be there or thereabouts. So you’ve got a connection with them.”

The 10-time Ryder Cup player used the 2014 match in Scotland as an example of how important that is after Tom Watson ended up as losing captain at Gleneagles at the age of 65.

“Tom Watson’s captaincy at Gleneagles pointed that out; that he was just a bit too old and out of touch with the players that were on his team,” added Westwood, who returned to winning ways in the Nedbank Challenge, another Rolex Series event, in November.