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Whoever from the European Tour players’ committee is chosen to sit on the five-strong panel that will select the next European Ryder Cup captain looks like having the pivotal vote.

Winning Ryder Cup captains Paul McGinley, Jose Maria Olazabal and Colin Montgomerie, along with European Tour chief executive George O’Grady and the players’ representative, will choose the man to lead Europe at Hazeltine National in Minnesota in 2016.

The best-dressed Darren Clarke, who has used his Ryder Cup pundit role on Sky as part of his charm offensive, and 2014 vice-captain Miguel Angel Jimenez are the main contenders.

Thomas Bjorn passes the Ryder Cup trophy to his captain Paul McGinley and may pick his replacement

Bjorn is already chair of the players group and is likely to have the casting vote on the captaincy

It’s expected that Jimenez will be backed by his compatriot Olazabal as well as McGinley, who chose him as one of five assistants, while O’Grady and Monty go for Clarke, leaving the casting vote with the players’ committee man.

The most obvious choice to have that final say is Thomas Bjorn, who chairs the 15-strong players group. The Dane is a close friend of Clarke.

Vice captain Miguel Angel Jimenez celebrates at Gleneagles and could take over for 2016

The Chinese are coming to English golf. Property developer Reignwood, founded by Dr Chanchai Ruayrungruang, is the new owner of £135million Wentworth and has grand plans to increase Chinese traffic. 

It is also transforming the Port of London Authority building into a luxury hotel aimed at Chinese golfers. 

Wentworth was sold by restaurant tycoon Richard Caring for £5m more than he paid for it nine years ago; it is reckoned to be a good price with so many golf clubs losing money. 

The capture of Wentworth is seen as a big statement about China’s golfing ambitions.

Nothing summed up the difference between the two captains better than 65-year-old out-of-touch American Tom Watson (right) saying his highlight was getting to know his players. 

Paul McGinley’s meticulous planning included doing that months before the event.

Tom Watson did not prepare for the Ryder Cup as fully as his European counterpart McGinley

A successful Ryder Cup has gone some way to consoling Scotland’s First Minister Alex Salmond after the No vote. 

He felt it worth stopping his buggy while out on the course to describe the atmosphere at his Scottish Government golf reception at Stirling Castle as ‘euphoric’.

Alex Salmond hands over the trophy after what he described as a ‘euphoric’ Ryder Cup

5 Live show priorities

BBC 5 Live’s obsession with football was clearly evident during the closing holes of the pivotal Ryder Cup fourball on Saturday morning that ended with Rory McIlroy and Ian Poulter halving with Rickie Fowler and Jimmy Walker.

BBC 5 Live chose to broadcast the Merseyside derby, where Phil Jagielka scored a last-gasp equaliser

The BBC missed Ian Poulter and Rory McIlroy’s magical moment against Rickie Fowler and Jimmy Walker

Instead of full commentary at such a crucial time, 5 Live’s coverage of Liverpool v Everton took precedence, with only updates from Gleneagles. 

The station said they were ‘mixing and matching’ and Saturday’s 3pm kick-off was relegated to 5 Live Extra as golf took centre stage.

BBC director of sport Barbara Slater has defended the strange selection process which saw insider Dan Roan appointed sports editor. 

Some of the short-listed candidates were promised further interviews with Slater but these never happened. Slater said: ‘I’m very happy with the appointment, the process was very robust.’

Meanwhile, busy Clare Balding giving up her C4 horse racing presenter contract is no longer the foregone conclusion it first seemed. 

C4 are doing all they can to keep her on board, especially as she also hosts their Paralympic coverage, and a new two-year contract is on the table. Balding, working for 5 Live at Gleneagles, said: ‘I’m concentrating on the golf.’

Bungling Byrom’s Ryder Cup Travel Services, responsible for travel and accommodation at Gleneagles, ended the tournament as they had started it with hapless sub-contracted bus drivers finding new ways of getting lost. 

Byrom’s accommodation mark-up was considerable as well. Glasgow’s Marriott had a rack rate of £175 during the tournament but Byrom were charging £230 per room.

A Byrom spokesman said: ‘We anticipated the value of hotel rooms increasing during Ryder Cup week and held rooms four years in advance in order to protect them from price inflation.’

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