Tony Jacklin issues Ryder Cup warning to Lee Westwood

Lee Westwood has ruled himself out of this year's Ryder Cup captaincy role.

Former Ryder Cup captain Tony Jacklin has warned Lee Westwood he may never be Ryder Cup Captain for Europe if he doesn’t skipper the side in Rome next year.

Westwood has already ruled himself out of leading Europe’s bid to regain the trophy in 2023

Jacklin said: “Lee Westwood is the obvious next captain, but he wants to see if he could make another team as a player. Even though naturally it would be his turn, I don't think Lee wants to do it and he may never get the chance again.

“If you don't look at Lee, Henrik Stenson is an obvious front runner. So now it's Luke Donald in the hot seat, who is a wonderful guy with a lot of experience of winning Ryder Cups. He's got all the credentials.

“There are lots of cabs waiting to go off the rank, it's different to 40 years ago, with a lot of deserving guys. In the next two times, Ian Poulter has to get his chance to be captain - there's no doubt about that.”