Jose Maria Olazabal, captain of the European Ryder Cup team, has revealed he will feed off the inspiration of Seve Ballesteros at this month's matches against the USA at Medinah.
Olazabal's early experiences in the Ryder Cup were spent under the expert tutorage of his Spanish compatriot and the pair went on to form the most successful partnership in the event's history.
Ballesteros, who died of a brain tumour in May 2011 aged 54, went on to lead Europe to success on Spanish home soil amid emotional scenes at Valderrama in 1997.
But the late golf legend attracted criticism from some quarters for his hands-on style of leadership and Olazabal is keen not to follow his example in this area.
Ballesteros famously woke up assistant Miguel Angel Jimenez in the middle of the night to discuss his latest plans during the event.
Olazabal said: “Seve will be present somehow. I will have to find a way. But I won’t be waking up at 3am and calling any of my vice-captains to check on pairings for the next day!
“It's very difficult to compare to Seve in any way. He was really all over the place - I don't know how he managed to be in so many places at the same time, to be honest.
“He was very close to the players, sometimes a little too close, trying to hit the shots. I won’t go that far.”
Olazabal revealed he spoke to his close friend about the experience he will face at Medinah from September 28-30 shortly before his premature death.
He added: “I talked to Seve about the captaincy when I made a couple of visits to his home when he was sick. He was very relaxed - he had a different view of it.”
Europe are a best-priced 8/5 with bookmaker
Stan James to win the Ryder Cup and 11/1 at
Bet365 for a tie that would be enough to retain the trophy.
