NAPA, Calif. – Martin Laird wasn’t sure what to expect out of his game after a seven-week break. He hasn’t found too much wrong after two rounds of the Frys.com Open.

Laird bounced back from his first bogey of the new PGA Tour season by running off four straight birdies around the turn. One last birdie on the par-5 18th at Silverado gave him a second straight 5-under 67 and a one-shot lead over Bae Sang-moon and Zach Blair going into the weekend.

Blair was among 11 rookies to make the cut in their debut as PGA Tour members. Among those rookies was Canada’s Adam Hadwin, who is tied for 12th at at 5-under 139.

The other two Canadians to make the cut were Graham DeLaet (71-70–141, -3) and David Hearn (72-71–143, -1).

Silverado hadn’t hosted a PGA Tour event since 1980, and it appeared the players were starting to figure out how to navigate the tight, winding fairways and small greens that are all about being on the right side of the hole.

There were 13 rounds at 67 or better, compared with only three in the opening round.

One of them belonged to Jimmy Walker, one of four players fresh off the Ryder Cup who came to the Frys.com Open. Walker opened with a 75, and then he followed that with eight birdies in a round of 66 that got him to the weekend with room to spare.

Hunter Mahan and Matt Kuchar each had a 68 and were at least in range of Laird. Lee Westwood played in the morning through a marine layer that made conditions more difficult. He shot a 69 to make the cut by one shot.

Laird was at 10-under 134.

“You never know how you’re going to play after seven weeks off like I had,” Laird said. “Just to come out and put back-to-back 67s up and play very solid – very solid 67s – I’m extremely happy.”

He made a sloppy bogey on the sixth hole with a poor tee shot into the bunker, hitting into another bunker some 80 feet from the flag and missing an 8-foot putt. He had to scramble for par on the next hole, and then he took off.

After a pair of short birdie putts, Laird rolled in a birdie from 20 feet on No. 10, and then made another birdie putt from the same range up the ridge toward a tucked pin on the par-3 11th.

Bae made all three of his birdies on the par 5s and was at 135.

Blair finished second in the final Web.com Tour Finals event to get his card, and kept right on rolling at Silverado. He had six birdies against no bogeys, picking up four shots on his final nine holes to get within one shot of the lead.

Scott Langley, in his first event since his wife gave birth to their first child, had a 66 and was at 8-under 136, along with David Lingmerth and Mark Hubbard, who had a hole-in-one on the seventh hole on his way to a 65.

Laird had more time off than he wanted. A three-time winner on the PGA Tour, he felt his game slipping away when he went back to swing coach Mark McCann and started putting the pieces back together. It was too late to salvage his season. Laird wound up at No. 127 in the FedEx Cup standings – missing by 13 points – and had a month off.

There also were two open weeks around the Ryder Cup in his native Scotland.

When he met with McCann during his break to keep working on his game, the swing was in such good shape that they spent the majority of time working on his short game. That much was evident when he missed the green on the par-3 seventh hole and hit a tricky pitch to 6 feet for par, and on the 18th with a wedge from the first cut that spun back a few feet from the cup.

“I’ve definitely seen it this week,” Laird said of the short-game work. “I’m putting good. My wedge game was pretty bad last year, and we really worked on that. My shot on the last … it’s nice when you do the hard work and then you hit a wedge shot on the last hole to tap-in range almost. It makes it worthwhile.”

Jarrod Lyle, who earned a spot through Monday qualifying, had a 70 to make the cut in his first PGA Tour event since he had a recurrence of leukemia nearly two years ago.

NAPA, Calif. – The new PGA Tour season felt like an old one to a trio of Ryder Cup players Thursday at the Frys.com Open.

Hunter Mahan, Matt Kuchar and Jimmy Walker met on the 10th tee at Silverado. With a morning chill in the air and beautiful scenery of Napa Valley, it was vaguely similar to the rolling hills of Gleneagles just two weeks ago at the Ryder Cup.

Except that no one was singing. There was hardly anyone in the grandstand, or on the golf course.

“It’s a little strange off the tee when no one is really here at 7:45,” Mahan said after opening with a 2-under 70, leaving him four shots out of the lead. “And out there at 7, everyone is singing along and the party is already started.”

It was back to normal for those three Americans, along with Lee Westwood of England, who made two late birdies to salvage a 73.

And it was another chance for Andres Gonzalez, who made it back to the PGA Tour for the third time. He has yet to keep his card, and while this was only the first round of the new wraparound season, he was plenty happy with no bogeys on his card and a 6-under 66.

Sang-Moon Bae made seven birdies in the afternoon and joined Gonzalez at 66. They were a shot ahead of Martin Laird. Brooks Koepka was in a large group at 68.

The star attraction at the Frys.com Open was the Ryder Cup trio, and there were about 500 people tagging along by the end of their round. The par-5 ninth summed up the round for each of them.

Mahan lagged perfectly from 75 feet for a two-putt birdie. Kuchar showed off a sharp short game, and his pitch from short of the green struck the pin and settled about a foot away. He shot 71. Walker thought his full wedge was perfect until it took a hard hop and landed in a gnarly spot in the rough, leading to a bogey and a 75.

Most of them would have preferred at least another week off.

Walker is defending a title for the first time in his career. Mahan and Kuchar are at the Frys.com Open as part of a deal with the PGA Tour for letting them play an exhibition in Turkey two years ago. Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy also were supposed to play this year until they deferred, McIlroy because he was wiped out from a busy summer of winning back-to-back majors, Woods while he tries to regain his explosiveness from back surgery earlier in the year.

The tour is in its second year of a wraparound season that starts in October and ends with the Tour Championship in September, and it’s still hard to digest that everyone is starting over at Silverado.

Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C. and Ottawa’s Brad Fritsch lead the Canadians after opening with matching 2-under 70s. They duo has a share of 25th spot.

Graham DeLaet of Weyburn, Sask. was a shot back, carding a 71, while Brantford, Ont. native David Hearn is at even-par thanks to a 72.

Brights Grove, Ont.’s Mike Weir opened with a 73 and Nick Taylor of Abbotsford, B.C. shot 74.

Thursday’s round marked Hadwin and Taylor’s first as full-time members of the PGA Tour.

NAPA, Calif. – Jimmy Walker ended his remarkable season with a high standard of golf that probably didn’t get the attention it deserved.

That’s not much different from how it started.

Walker captured his first PGA Tour title a year ago at the Frys.com Open, and then added two more wins before the tour reached the Florida swing. That was easy to overlook by the end of the year when Rory McIlroy came on strong with a pair of majors and a World Golf Championship.

It’s not that Walker tapered off – he had three top 10s in the majors. It’s just that winning is hard, and he happened to make it look easy. It got him into the Masters for the first time. He led the FedEx Cup almost the entire year until McIlroy overtook him in August. And he made his first Ryder Cup team.

He finished strong, minus a reason to celebrate.

Europe already had clinched the Ryder Cup when Walker capped off the strongest performance by any American on the final day at Gleneagles. Playing in the penultimate match, he made eight birdies in 16 holes and needed them all to beat Lee Westwood, who made six birdies.

“I’ve played with Jimmy and knew he was a very good player,” Westwood said. “Whenever he’s played with me, unfortunately, he’s played well. You’re more upset when you lose a game if you’ve not played well, but I don’t really mind the fact that I lost a game to somebody that shot 8 under through 16 holes on Sunday of a Ryder Cup. That’s pretty impressive stuff.”

The question for Walker is what he does for an encore.

A new PGA Tour season begins Thursday with the Frys.com Open, the first chance for Walker to defend a title. He’ll have to do it on a different golf course, with the tournament moving from CordeValle to Silverado, the resort amid the vineyards and foothills of Napa Valley.

The final hour of last year’s tournament was a blur. Walker closed with a 66 and rallied past Brooks Koepka. It was his first victory in eight years on tour, and Walker never imagined what would follow. He won a shootout at Waialae in the Sony Open, and then held on to win the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.

“Three wins in eight starts doesn’t happen a lot,” Walker said Wednesday. “I feel like the rest of the year was good. You win, and the question is when are you going to win again? And then to win so fast, and then a third time, it’s like I jumped that whole `get the second win and the monkey off your back’ and then was an established play. And then you have to play well in the majors.

“There is always the next step.”

The next step is to develop some consistency, although Walker certainly wasn’t lacking. He had top 10s at Augusta National (his Masters debut), Pinehurst No. 2 and made a late bid at Valhalla to get into the mix before he tied for seventh. He also tied for sixth at The Players Championship.

And yet he heard too often that he didn’t win again after Pebble in February, and that his three wins came before the international stars began showing up in America. Walker knows how hard he worked with Butch Harmon to ignore any criticism, or the lack of attention.

If the trophies or the growing bank account were not enough, it was the reaction from the people who matter – the other players.

“Just the way they look at you, the way they nod at you,” he said. “I think I’ve got respect from my peers, and that’s what matters to me.”

He will play the opening two rounds at Silverado with Ryder Cup teammates Matt Kuchar and Hunter Mahan. Walker could have used an extra week off after a grueling four-week stretch of the FedEx Cup playoffs and his first Ryder Cup, where every shot felt like the back nine at a major.

He will get his break after this week, and then try to build on his season. His bucket list of what he wants to achieve in golf is a lot smaller.

“I ticked off quite a few,” he said. “You set those big goals and then you realize you had to do a lot of things really well along the way. The year before last, my first year working with Butch, he said, `You know you had your best year, but you didn’t win. It’s about winning. You need to go win.’ I tried to take that to heart.”

Winning a major is the obvious next step. Walker also is looking two years down the road at Rio. He would love nothing more than to play in the Olympics.

“For me to do that, I’ve got to keep doing what I’m doing, and doing it right,” he said.

NAPA, Calif. – Jarrod Lyle takes another step back in his amazing return from twice beating leukemia, and this one might be the biggest one yet.

He earned his spot in the Frys.com Open through a playoff at Monday qualifying.

And he’s back among the best players in the world on the PGA Tour, part of a family he never knew was so large.

Lyle got choked up Wednesday talking about a DVD he was given shortly after leukemia returned in March 2012, right about the time his wife was due to give birth to their daughter. Golf Channel arranged for players at Bay Hill to say a few encouraging words to the Australian.

“I watched it and I cried for 45 minutes,” Lyle said Wednesday. “I still cry when I look at it. These guys were taking 30 seconds out of their day to jump on camera to wish me all the best, guys that I probably haven’t spoken to much or haven’t played with before. But to see those guys get on there and just wish us all the best, that meant the world, and it showed me how much support that I had from my competitors and my peers over here.”

This is the third time Lyle has returned to a tour.

The most emotional was at home in Australia last December, when he made the cut riding a wave of support. He came back to America this summer to play on the Web.com Tour as he continued to work on his game.

The Frys.com Open was not on his schedule. Lyle received a sponsor’s exemption to the tournament next week in Las Vegas. He did not receive one to the Frys.com Open, so he decided to go through Monday qualifying. Nothing comes easily to Lyle, and he never complains.

Instead, he shot a 66 to get into an eight-man playoff for four spots. He made a 20-foot birdie putt on the second hole and was in.

“I sort of a gave myself a little fist pump and thought, `I’ve done it.’ But in the car on the way home, I kind of screamed like a little girl that I’d finally done it and got myself into a tournament that I wasn’t going to be playing. I came up here with a job to do.

“To come out and achieve my first goal this week, which was to Monday qualify, it’s got the year off to a really, really good start.”

He will head home to Australia after next week to get his blood tested as a precaution. Lyle is no longer taking any treatment except for a penicillin tablet he takes once a day for the rest of his life. He was on the putting green at Silverado with his neon yellow bucket hat. He was among friends.

His wife, Briony, and daughter, Lusi, were at his side. Lyle’s daughter was playing with a pair of small, rubber duck toys as he gave a radio interview on the phone.

The ducks resemble the “Leuk the Duck” character that Robert Allenby, his longtime mentor, passed out to players to wear at Bay Hill when Lyle was diagnosed. Lyle has plenty of friends on the PGA Tour. He just didn’t realize until he got sick how many.

“I think the reason Australia was so emotional is because I have a lot of family and friends around,” he said. “There were family and friends around me the whole time that helped out with my wife and Lusi and were visiting me in the hospital. But I think this is going to be just as emotional because these guys on the PGA Tour, they’ve reached out to us from the start and they’re always texting and emailing and getting in contact and just making sure we’re doing OK.

“To be able to have them in your corner, helping you deal with everything, that’s great,” he said. “I’ve enjoyed the last couple of days just being out here and seeing everybody and thanking them for their support over the last couple of years.”

Lyle has 20 events to earn $283,825 and reach the equivalent of No. 125 on the money list in 2012 to keep his PGA Tour card.

NAPA, Calif. – For the first two days of the Ryder Cup, only 16 players were on the golf course at the same time.

And they had plenty of company.

The greatest growth in golf might be the number of guests allowed inside the ropes at the Ryder Cup.

The access began with the players’ wives dressed in uniform. It has expanded significantly in the last decade to include the parents of the players, the parents of the players’ wives, other family members of the players, the wives and family members of the caddies. Not to be overlooked was Michael Jordan, a regular at the Ryder Cup.

Some have credentials. Some do not. One person at Gleneagles was the friend of a brother of a player. Other person seen inside the ropes was … well, no one was sure.

It’s not a clean look, especially with overhead views on television. And there were a few complaints from fans behind the ropes to struggled to see.

This has not escaped the attention of Ryder Cup organizers.

“It is an issue that we continue to review and monitor,” Kerry Haigh, chief of championships for the PGA of America, said in an email. “As you know, there are a number of different groups that currently are allowed access inside the ropes. … All categories and numbers are and will be reviewed and may be reduced or eliminated if we collectively feel it will be in the best interests of the Ryder Cup.”

Tom Watson took the blame Saturday for his communication with his players in another American loss at the Ryder Cup, and the 65-year-old captain said he called Phil Mickelson earlier this week to clear the air.

“I regret that my words may have made the players feel that I didn’t appreciate their commitment and dedication to winning the Ryder Cup,” Watson said in a statement issued through the PGA of America. “My intentions throughout my term as captain were both to inspire and to be honest.”

Mickelson indirectly called out Watson in an awkward press conference after Europe’s 16 1/2-11 1/2 victory, the eighth out of the last 10 times it has won the cup. Mickelson said the Americans have strayed from a winning formula they had under Paul Azinger in 2008.

Watson was sitting in the middle of his 12 players and said he had a different philosophy.

The statement was issued one day after an ESPN report citing four unidentified people who were in the U.S. team room on the night before the final round. Those people said Watson blamed the players for their performance in foursomes – Europe went unbeaten in both sessions to build a 10-6 lead going into singles – and scoffed at a gift from the players by saying it was meaningless if they didn’t win.

The gift was a replica of the Ryder Cup the players had signed.

The report also said Watson denigrated some of the European players, and only praised the play of U.S. rookies Jordan Spieth and Patrick Reed.

Watson was the oldest captain in Ryder Cup history. He was the last U.S. captain in 1993 to win the Ryder Cup away from home.

“The guys gave everything. They played their hearts out,” Watson said in his statement. “I was proud to get to know each and every one of them.”

Mickelson was playing his 10th Ryder Cup – no American has played more times – and said the U.S. team was not involved in any decision. He heaped praise on Azinger for his “pods” system that got the players involved when they won at Valhalla in 2008.

Watson dismissed that during the press conference, saying winning the Ryder Cup was not about pods and that it simply took 12 players to win.

The ESPN report said Mickelson was the last to speak during the team meeting, kept his back turned at Watson and tried to rally the players. Europe won key matches early and clinched the cup with four matches still on the course.

Watson said he had a “candid conversation” with Mickelson this week “and it ended with a better understanding of each other’s perspectives.”

“Phil’s heart and intentions for our team’s success have always been in the right place,” Watson said. “Phil is a great player, has great passion and I admire what he’s done for golf.”

Watson said the loss at Gleneagles fell to him.

“I was their captain,” he said. “In hindsight, whatever mistakes that were made were mine. And I take full responsibility for them.”

ST. ANDREWS, Scotland – One incredible month of golf was enough for Rory McIlroy to be voted PGA Tour player of the year.

The award was announced on Wednesday and surprised no one. McIlroy won the award, which is a vote of PGA Tour members, for the second time in three years.

He joined Tiger Woods, Greg Norman and Nick Price as the only multiple winners of the Jack Nicklaus Award since it began in 1990.

“I’d like to win a lot more in my career, and I feel like I can,” McIlroy said from St. Andrews, where he is playing in the Dunhill Links Championship.

McIlroy and Jimmy Walker each won three times on the PGA Tour, though the size of the trophy tilted heavily in favor of the 25-year-old from Northern Ireland. McIlroy went wire-to-wire to win the British Open, rallied from three shots behind on the final day at Firestone to capture his first World Golf Championship, and won the PGA Championship with a sterling back nine at Valhalla.

He became only the seventh player to win the final two majors of the year, and the first since Padraig Harrington in 2008.

McIlroy failed to win on the European Tour or on the PGA Tour in 2013 during a turbulent year when he switched out all of his equipment, and would end up in a legal mess after leaving his management company.

He also struggled with a phenomenon that became known as “Freaky Friday” for taking himself out of tournaments with bad second rounds. He solved that enigma and roared back to No. 1 in the world with a solid year that became spectacular with his two major titles.

McIlroy also led the PGA Tour with 12 finishes in the top 10, and he never finished worse than 25th. He also won the PGA Tour money title with just over $8.2 million, and he won the Vardon Trophy for the lowest adjusted scoring average.

He won the award over Martin Kaymer, who won The Players Championship and U.S. Open; Masters champion Bubba Watson; FedEx Cup champion Billy Horschel; and Walker.

The tour does not release vote totals.

“I guess it just makes me realize that even though last year wasn’t the year I wanted, the last three or four years have been very, very good,” McIlroy said. “It gives me even more motivation to go on and work harder and try to win more tournaments, more majors, and be involved in more Ryder Cups like last week.”

McIlroy contributed two wins and two halves in Europe’s 16 1/2-11 1/2 victory over the Americans last week at Gleneagles.

The PGA of America’s award for player of the year is based on points, and effectively ended when McIlroy captured his second major. Just like two years ago, he is virtually certain to win the money title on both sides of the Atlantic, and sweep the significant awards in Europe.

“Being voted player of the year by your peers is something that’s important,” he said. “They are the guys that you play week in and week out, and the guys you are trying to beat week in and week out. And if they appreciate what you’ve done over the year, and see the hard work you’ve put in, and golf you’ve played, and think that’s been the best of the season, that’s something that means a lot to me.”

Chesson Hadley of the U.S. was voted PGA Tour rookie of the year.

Hadley won the Puerto Rico Open, which was held opposite a World Golf Championship at Doral. Among the three rookies on the ballot, he was the only player with a PGA Tour victory, and the only one to advance to the third round of the FedEx Cup playoffs.

GLENEAGLES, Scotland – Phil Mickelson delivered his most memorable shot after the Ryder Cup was over.

Not with a club, but with his words.

Mickelson knew this Ryder Cup was a lost cause before it was over. Even though he won his singles match over Stephen Gallacher, another European victory looked imminent. That’s what led Mickelson to say in a television interview, “We had a great formula in `08 and I don’t know why we strayed from it. I don’t know why we don’t ever try going back to it.”

He was talking about the only Ryder Cup the Americans have won in the last 15 years.

And he was just getting warmed up.

It’s rare to hear even a remote reference to criticism from a player at Ryder Cup. Mickelson took it to an unprecedented level when he delivered his message in the closing news conference, sitting alongside his 11 teammates with captain Tom Watson right in the middle.

Mickelson blistered one captain by praising another.

He spoke in detail about Paul Azinger’s pod system – three groups of qualifiers that filled out their pod by telling Azinger whom they wanted as a captain’s pick. They ate together. They practiced together. They never played with anyone outside their pod, and they were next to each other in every lineup. And then he raved about how Azinger had a game plan for every occasion, which suggested that Watson did not.

Watson never looked at Mickelson as he spoke. When asked to reply, the 65-year-old captain said he had a different philosophy and sneered at the notion of a pod.

This might have been the most intense match of the week.

Even when the Europeans lost at Valhalla under Nick Faldo, they closed ranks in the news conference. Lee Westwood and Sergio Garcia both were benched for the first time in their careers. They are not fans of Faldo. And yet they took the blame that day by saying they should have played better.

Mickelson didn’t call out Watson by name. He just criticized his heavy-handed leadership style.

It needed to be said.

And as bad as it made Watson look – and Mickelson, for that matter – it was the right time and the right place. The message was directed more at the PGA of America, which selected Watson without player input, than it was at the captain. Given the stage, his comments will not be forgotten.

Watson wanted to be captain again, even though it had been 21 years since he was captain, or even attended a Ryder Cup. After watching the meltdown at Medinah, he was tired of the Americans losing. Watson saw a team with a silver spoon that was in dire need of an iron fist.

“This guy is tough as nails. We all know that,” European captain Paul McGinley said. “He was going to be strong. He was going to be a very strong captain, and he was going to lead it his way.”

That might have worked in 1993. It doesn’t work now.

Azinger’s all-inclusive style was key in winning the Ryder Cup. Davis Love III had a similar style at Medinah, and the Americans built a 10-6 lead going into the final day. If not for Justin Rose making a 45-foot putt, and Ian Poulter making just about everything, the Americans would have won that cup, too.

Watson talked about keeping it simple. He saw his main roles as the captain’s picks and the pairings, and neither merited a passing grade.

It wasn’t all on Watson, who didn’t hit a single shot. And it’s not a complete failure by the Americans. Europe always has a great team, and now it has great players. Winning the Ryder Cup was never going to be easy.

Watson returns to Scotland next year at St. Andrews for his final appearance in the British Open, which he has won five times. He is revered in Scotland, and a bad week at Gleneagles is not going to change that. This Ryder Cup loss will be forgotten. It’s not like the Americans losing is an anomaly.

As for Mickelson?

He came across as disingenuous and disrespectful for going public with what could have been handled in private.

It was a big risk for Mickelson, who is wildly popular with fans but can be as polarizing as Tiger Woods. Mickelson opened himself up to massive criticism for calling out Watson on such a big stage. And it’s not as if Mickelson can lean on a great Ryder Cup record. A five-time major champion, he has been on eight losing teams.

Mickelson doesn’t speak from the hip. This was calculated. He knew the risk.

Go back to start of the week, when Mickelson poked fun at Rory McIlroy’s lawsuit against his management company that now involves Graeme McDowell. Mickelson said the best part of American unity is that “we don’t litigate against each other.”

He has been coming over to Britain for 20 years. He knew what kind of headlines one comment was going to generate. And he didn’t care.

“I might get roasted,” he told Golf Digest. “I can handle it.”

GLENEAGLES, Scotland – Paul McGinley is ready to call it a career in the Ryder Cup, and it ended on a perfect note.

McGinley made his debut in 2002 at The Belfry by holing the winning putt for Europe. His final act was captain of another formidable team, and he called all the right shots at Gleneagles as Europe sailed to its eighth win in the last 10 Ryder Cup matches.

In between, he played in two other Ryder Cups (both record wins for Europe) and was an assistant twice.

“That’s six Ryder Cups now I’ve been involved in and six wins,” he said. “I do feel lucky.”

After another celebration that lasted into the early hours Monday, McGinley says he won’t take part in another Ryder Cup, at least not in an official capacity.

“I’ve gone from a player to a vice captain to a captain. I’ve been six out of six. I’ve been very lucky that I’ve had six great experiences,” McGinley said. “I’m very happy to help going forward in an unofficial capacity.”

Two of his assistants at Gleneagles previously were captains – Sam Torrance in 2002 and Jose Maria Olazabal in 2012. McGinley said his personality would not allow him to return after being at the pinnacle of European leadership.

“I’ve put so much on the table,” he said. “I would like to be able to support the next captain in whatever direction he went, and if I had a belief about a different area, I’m afraid there would be conflict. So I can’t see myself doing that role again.”

His job for the European team is not over yet.

McGinley will join Olazabal and Colin Montgomerie on a five-member panel that decides the next captain for the 2016 job at Hazeltine. European Tour chief executive George O’Grady and a player from the tournament committee fill out the panel.

Darren Clarke is among those under consideration. McGinley and Clarke had a falling out two years ago when Clarke was up for the 2014 job, stood down and then backed Montgomerie because he thought Europe needed a big personality to match U.S. captain Tom Watson, who has iconic status in Scotland.

McGinley pledged there would be “absolutely no problem whatsoever” when he serves on the panel.

“I’m going to get a large opinion from a lot of players and a lot of people before I put my opinion forward,” McGinley said. “I think a lot of us benefited hugely from being vice captains. Darren has been a vice captain, along with many other guys, as well. So we will see where that all evolves, and I certainly won’t have no issues with that whatsoever. I’ll make a professional decision based on the views of the people I respect.”

McGinley was not ready to think that far forward. He still was buzzing from a big night in the team room, and some photos on Twitter illustrated the happy occasion. Among the more unusual photos was Rory McIlroy dressed in only a tartan skirt with a red wig, posing with Stephen Gallacher.

McGinley some of the Europeans ventured into the team room of the Americans to play table tennis and “we got our (butt) kicked.”

“I’m glad the Ryder Cup is not a table tennis championship,” he said.

McGinley said his last Ryder Cup and first Ryder Cup were filled with the same satisfaction, though not quite the same emotion. He was the player who hit the winning shot for Europe at The Belfry in 2002. He didn’t hit a single shot at Gleneagles.

“The buzz at The Belfry was incredible. It was the first time I felt that kind of ecstasy, that sense of `Wow!’ It was an explosion of joy,” he said. “Yesterday wasn’t quite the explosion because I was very much in management mode. … But the sense of satisfaction is exactly the same.”

The American team filed out of Gleneagles Hotel in the morning, heading for Edinburgh and a charter flight home. It left on a far less unified front as Phil Mickelson said the Americans had strayed from a winning formula under Paul Azinger in 2008 and that Watson didn’t involve his players.

McGinley still hasn’t seen the press conference, which attracted nearly as much attention as Jamie Donaldson’s winning shot into the 15th. He greeted Watson at the hotel on Monday morning before the U.S. team left.

“He’s incredibly disappointed,” McGinley said. “But you know what? He’s got that smile, that steely grin. Tom Watson is Tom Watson. He’s a hard man, and he’s a man I respect. So I have the greatest respect to be able to share this journey with a hero of mine.”

GLENEAGLES, Scotland – Paul McGinley is ready to call it a career in the Ryder Cup, and it ended on a perfect note.

McGinley made his debut in 2002 at The Belfry by holing the winning putt for Europe. His final act was captain of another formidable team, and he called all the right shots at Gleneagles as Europe sailed to its eighth win in the last 10 Ryder Cup matches.

In between, he played in two other Ryder Cups (both record wins for Europe) and was an assistant twice.

“That’s six Ryder Cups now I’ve been involved in and six wins,” he said. “I do feel lucky.”

After another celebration that lasted into the early hours Monday, McGinley says he won’t take part in another Ryder Cup, at least not in an official capacity.

“I’ve gone from a player to a vice captain to a captain. I’ve been six out of six. I’ve been very lucky that I’ve had six great experiences,” McGinley said. “I’m very happy to help going forward in an unofficial capacity.”

Two of his assistants at Gleneagles previously were captains – Sam Torrance in 2002 and Jose Maria Olazabal in 2012. McGinley said his personality would not allow him to return after being at the pinnacle of European leadership.

“I’ve put so much on the table,” he said. “I would like to be able to support the next captain in whatever direction he went, and if I had a belief about a different area, I’m afraid there would be conflict. So I can’t see myself doing that role again.”

His job for the European team is not over yet.

McGinley will join Olazabal and Colin Montgomerie on a five-member panel that decides the next captain for the 2016 job at Hazeltine. European Tour chief executive George O’Grady and a player from the tournament committee fill out the panel.

Darren Clarke is among those under consideration. McGinley and Clarke had a falling out two years ago when Clarke was up for the 2014 job, stood down and then backed Montgomerie because he thought Europe needed a big personality to match U.S. captain Tom Watson, who has iconic status in Scotland.

McGinley pledged there would be “absolutely no problem whatsoever” when he serves on the panel.

“I’m going to get a large opinion from a lot of players and a lot of people before I put my opinion forward,” McGinley said. “I think a lot of us benefited hugely from being vice captains. Darren has been a vice captain, along with many other guys, as well. So we will see where that all evolves, and I certainly won’t have no issues with that whatsoever. I’ll make a professional decision based on the views of the people I respect.”

McGinley was not ready to think that far forward. He still was buzzing from a big night in the team room, and some photos on Twitter illustrated the happy occasion. Among the more unusual photos was Rory McIlroy dressed in only a tartan skirt with a red wig, posing with Stephen Gallacher.

McGinley some of the Europeans ventured into the team room of the Americans to play table tennis and “we got our (butt) kicked.”

“I’m glad the Ryder Cup is not a table tennis championship,” he said.

McGinley said his last Ryder Cup and first Ryder Cup were filled with the same satisfaction, though not quite the same emotion. He was the player who hit the winning shot for Europe at The Belfry in 2002. He didn’t hit a single shot at Gleneagles.

“The buzz at The Belfry was incredible. It was the first time I felt that kind of ecstasy, that sense of `Wow!’ It was an explosion of joy,” he said. “Yesterday wasn’t quite the explosion because I was very much in management mode. … But the sense of satisfaction is exactly the same.”

The American team filed out of Gleneagles Hotel in the morning, heading for Edinburgh and a charter flight home. It left on a far less unified front as Phil Mickelson said the Americans had strayed from a winning formula under Paul Azinger in 2008 and that Watson didn’t involve his players.

McGinley still hasn’t seen the press conference, which attracted nearly as much attention as Jamie Donaldson’s winning shot into the 15th. He greeted Watson at the hotel on Monday morning before the U.S. team left.

“He’s incredibly disappointed,” McGinley said. “But you know what? He’s got that smile, that steely grin. Tom Watson is Tom Watson. He’s a hard man, and he’s a man I respect. So I have the greatest respect to be able to share this journey with a hero of mine.”