Rhys Davies made Vice-Captain of European Ryder Cup Team
Rhys Davies, although, lost a place in the final Ryder cup team but has still made his way into the big event as vice captain.
This is a rookie season for Davies who has missed the cut in the Ryder cup team but on top of it Colin Montgomerie has offered him a more sacred position and that is to serve as the team’s vice captain. With him included, there are now five vice captains of the European team, the other four being Sergio Gracia, Paul McGinley, Thomas Bjorn and Darren Clarke.
According to the team captain Montgomerie, Davies is the future Ryder cup player. He should have a feel of the event beforehand and as the contender is also number one player of Wales, he surely deserves to have an experience which a Ryder Cup team player has. Furthermore, he explained the Welshman’s appointment as a motivational gesture so that he would come over the disappointment of losing something so massive. As for Davies, he is already up for the job.
The 25 year old holds the record of posting a 62 at Wales Open, although he lost the playoff to Graeme McDowell who happens to be the US Open champion as well. This Welsh man currently stands at the fifty second spot according to the official world golf rankings and also holds the record of a debut victory in his first season on the European tour. He won the Hassan II championship in Morocco this year and was also amongst the top six finishers in five events including the Wales Open in which he finished second.
However, he missed the wild card chase while Padraig Harrington, Luke Donald and Edoardo Molinari got selected in the final Ryder cup team. But the player isn’t disappointed as he was expecting it. On the contrary, what has boosted his confidence is a one liner from the team captain that “Davies is a guy with the one million dollar putting stroke”.
This was surely a big compliment from somebody who is the in charge of selecting the team. Colin’s back room services have done wonders for many players and now it is Rhys’ turn. So, let’s see where this boy lands after a year. Earlier, Sergio Gracia had also received the same invitation after losing the Johnnie Walker Championship. It seems as if Montgomerie doesn’t want to break too many hearts and is trying to make up for all he can.
In 2008, Monty had asked Martin Kaymer, the current USPGA championship winner, to help him with the captaincy issues after Kaymer had missed the cut to Valhalla. The results of that decision are here and Kaymer is now a big asset for the European Ryder cup team. Kaymer currently is on the team and that is due to his fifth place in the official world golf rankings which he secured after winning the USPGA championship.
Meanwhile, Rhys Davies will now be seen in Celtic Manor with the Ryder cup team not as a player but as vice captain which is a huge honor for any player who is still in his rookie season. Experts say that Davies is surely a player with potential but this time he will be judged for his leadership skills as the basic role of a vice captain is to coordinate the team, extract the best out of his players and make them work together in order to achieve victory.
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