LEE Westwood insisted there were no regret as he brought the curtain down on a glittering Ryder Cup playing career to become one of European captain Thomas Bjorn’s assistants.
Westwood has played in the last ten shoot-outs with the ranks.
He was on the winning team seven times and piled up an impressive 23 points – putting him fourth on the all-time European standings.
But he has now been named as one of Bjorn’s vice-captains, along with fellow Englishman Luke Donald – like Westy a former world No 1 – and Irish Major winners Padraig Harrington and Graeme McDowell.
That made it five deputies in all for the Dane, as he had already unveiled Robert Karlsson as a vice-captain soon after landing the top job.
Westwood, 45, insisted he will have no difficulty slotting into his new role, saying it would be far worse not to be in Paris in September in any capacity.
He commented: “There are no mixed emotions.
“I’m at an age now where your chances of actually making the team go down quite significantly, and you have to accept that.
“I have always been interested to see what goes on behind the scenes while we’re fighting to get on the team, or out practising.
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“I’m keen to know what goes on during the decision-making process for pairings and that sort of thing, so I jumped at the chance when Thomas offered me a vice captain’s role.
“It was always special to be a part of the team, especially for so many years without missing one. But you want to be involved whatever happens, and this is going to be special too.
“We’ve put together a back-up team with loads of knowledge and experience, and it is us up us to act as helpers and psychologists – to pass on the right words, the right message, to people who do not have the same level of experience.”
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