Paul McGinley has resigned as assistant captain for the 2008 Ryder Cup at Valhalla.
Irishman wants to play, says skipper Faldo
Paul McGinley has resigned as assistant captain for the 2008 Ryder Cup at Valhalla.
Captain Nick Faldo confirmed McGinley's resignation on the eve of the Seve Trophy in Ireland, where he is leading the Great Britain and Ireland side against Continental Europe.
But, despite stories in Irish newspapers of Faldo snubbing McGinley by naming England's Simon Dyson and Scot Marc Warren as his two wildcards for this week's match, Faldo said the decision had nothing to do with that.
"From the very start he was concerned about the workload - the bottom line is that he wants to play," stated Faldo.
"Good luck to him. The man holed a winning putt in the Ryder Cup and that's the sort of player I want on my team."
Great honour
McGinley and Jose Maria Olazabal, two members of last year's winning side, were named as Faldo's two deputies in May, although both made it clear then they still wanted to be part of the 2008 team in Louisville.
McGinley said in a statement released by the European Tour: "It was a great honour to be picked by Nick, but on reflection, and after careful consideration, I feel it's in my best interest to concentrate on playing myself into the team, which I said from the outset was my first objective.
"I've played the last three matches and I want to play at Valhalla. I've been very fortunate - I've played three Ryder Cups, won all three, two by record margins, under three great captains (Sam Torrance, Bernhard Langer and Ian Woosnam) and now I want to play for Nick and bring the cup back to Europe again."
Richard Hills, Europe's Ryder Cup director, said: "We fully respect Paul's decision to concentrate on retaining his European Ryder Cup status for a fourth successive time.
"He has a 100 per cent record as each time he has played Europe has won and, of course, he holed the winning putt in 2002 and remains unbeaten in the singles.
"Paul's credentials are outstanding and with the qualification for Valhalla now having started we wish him every success in his quest to be a playing member of Nick Faldo's team."
