Exclusive - Westwood: 'I'd love to be Ryder Cup captain'

Lee Westwood has told talkSPORT he would love to be Ryder Cup captain one day.

The Worksop-born star helped Europe regain the trophy against the United States at Celtic Manor last weekend and has admitted he would relish the opportunity to follow in Colin Montgomerie's footsteps and lead the continent into battle.

He told the Alan Brazil Sports Breakfast: "I’d love to captain the Ryder Cup team. It’s a great honour. I’ve played in seven now under seven different captains, so I’ve seen what people got right and what people got wrong. Hopefully if I did get the chance in the future I could bring all that to my captaincy.

"I think if you did what Monty did last week you wouldn’t go far wrong."

Westwood was impressed with the Scot's leadership in south Wales as Europe clinched the trophy on a dramatic fourth day.

"Monty kept everybody informed and we all knew where we stood," he added. "He thought a lot about the partnerships and his team talks were very good, very passionate.

"I think keeping everybody informed is the key. Monty had enough vice-captains to do that, one with every match, and he had put a lot of thought into it."

Westwood could end this month top of golf's world rankings if neither he nor Tiger Woods play before October 31, although German Martin Kaymer could leapfrog them both if he wins the Andalucia Valderrama Masters in Spain that same week.

Bur Westwood knows that if he does claim top spot, the competition will be fierce to take over that mantle.

He added: "If you’re going to be world No.1 everybody is going to be shooting at you, so it doesn’t really matter who’s behind you.

"But to say you’ve got to number one in the Tiger Woods era obviously means even more, but I expect him to come back once he’s got everything settled down."