Westwood will be playing in his seventh Ryder Cup

Englishman Lee Westwood has admitted his ambition to one day captain the Europe Ryder Cup team.

The world number three is the top ranked European and is set to be one of captain Colin Montgomerie's mainstays in the 2010 edition at Celtic Manor.

"I'd love to be captain one day. It's a massive honour and very few people get to do it. Hopefully I'll get the chance," said Westwood, 37.

But he added that the captaincy is still "quite a long way down the road".

The 2010 Ryder Cup takes place in Wales from 30 September to 3 October, with Montgomerie looking to guide his team to a victory which would see them regain the trophy after their 16½-11½ defeat by the United States two years ago.

Westwood believes Montgomerie's passion for the competition - the Scot represented Europe eight times and is the equal third-highest points scorer in the competition's history - will help him be "a great captain".

It's not really something I've thought too much about Lee Westwood on captaincy

"I've played under lots of different captains, I think Monty will be the seventh," added Westwood.

"I've got a lot of experience playing in the Ryder Cup and a lot of experience of different captains and the way they've all done it and I should be able to look back and know what to do and what not to do."

However, Westwood, who could become world number one if he wins next week's WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, is currently focused on more shot-term targets.

"That [being captain] is quite a long way down the road. It's not really something I've thought too much about," he added.

"It [becoming world number one] would be amazing. It's not really something I set out for at the start of the year but now it's in reach it is something you focus on."

Meanwhile, the race to automatically qualify for the 12-man European team to face the US continues to hot up.

There are three ways to make the team. The top four on the world list qualify and then the next five on the European points list, with three wild cards to be named by Montgomerie on 29 August.

Westwood currently heads the world points list for Europe, with Rory McIlroy, Graeme McDowell and Luke Donald, who finished third at the Canadian Open on Sunday, filling the other three qualifying spots.

The European qualifying spots are currently filled by Ian Poulter, Martin Kaymer, Francesco Molinari, Miguel Angel Jimenez and Ross McGowan.

Montgomerie has an additional wild card compared to previous years but there are half a dozen players still vying for inclusion, with the likes of Paul Casey, Justin Rose, Padraig Harrington, Edoardo Molinari, Henrik Stenson, Ross Fisher and Sergio Garcia all in contention.

E-mail this to a friend

Printable version