Former Euro Ryder Cup captain McGinley: Expect '18 captain by Christmas

Paul McGinley was the winning captain in 2014. (Getty Images)

The Europeans are already deliberating about who will take the reins from Darren Clarke for the 2018 Ryder Cup matches in Paris.

According to winning 2014 captain Paul McGinley, the Europeans will identify the new captain around Christmas.

“We’ll be appointing a new skipper probably this side of Christmas,” McGinley said at the British Masters on Sunday, according to Reuters. “We are very disappointed to have lost the Ryder Cup. It hurts to lose … the event goes from strength to strength, this time it didn’t go our way but we’ll re-galvanize and come at the Americans again.”

So, who will be the new European captain? Three names come immediately to mind. Miguel Angel Jimenez was considered for the 2016 captaincy before Clarke ultimately earned the confidence of the voting committee. Thomas Bjorn, a long-time European Tour player leader and a man who was loyal to the Tour when it would have been easy to jump to the PGA Tour in search of more money, will get a chance to lead. It could come in 2018. Padraig Harrington, a three-time major winner, will also get his turn. It may perhaps be too soon to put him forward for Paris, but his name is in the discussions.

Ultimately, the Europeans have good potential captains for the next 16 years: Jimenez, Bjorn, Harrington, Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter, Sergio Garcia, Henrik Stenson and Justin Rose.

The answers — for 2018 and deep into the future — aren’t as clear cut for the Americans.

Ryan Ballengee is a Yahoo Sports contributor. Find him on Facebook and Twitter.

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