Earlier today, three-time Major winner Padraig Harrington had the honour of being named as a vice-captain for the upcoming Ryder Cup.
Fresh from hearing of Paul McGinley's decision, the Dubliner joined us on the line to look ahead to the challenge.
"It's going to be a strange position to be in," he admitted, before continuing,"I'm keen on doing the vice-captain's job and keen to find out what that entails. I'm interested to see what the captaincy entails with what Paul has to do. That's a question I'll have to work on that week. I can't go there considering in any shape or form that I should be on the golf course or that I should be playing."
Harrington admitted that previous vice-captaincy decisions down through the years have led to tensions but that McGinley was "wise" not to pick vice-captains who were "close to making the team".
But he is also keen to learn from the captain with his own ambitions to be a Ryder Cup captain at some time in the future.
"It's a step in that direction to see if I'd be suitable. Just because you play good golf doesn't mean you'll be suitable to man-manage 12 players and do the stuff behind the scenes. I'll have a better idea after this Ryder Cup whether my qualifications are starting to stack up in order to put my hat in the ring for captaincy down the road," he stated, citing Nick Faldo's captaincy in 2008 as an example that a good Major career does not mean it will lead to success as the captain in the tournament.
Harrington also spoke about the "honesty" of his relationship with McGinley over the years and highlighted the importance of winning the Golf World Cup together in 1997.
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