Paul McGinley says Jim McGuinness will have no official involvement in Europe’s 2014 Ryder Cup bid.
There was speculation that the Donegal manager could be drafted into McGinley’s backroom team for the prestigious golf tournament.
But Dubliner McGinley has confirmed that neither McGuinness nor Sunderland soccer boss Martin O’Neill will be officially enlisted.
“It has been suggested that Jim was basically going to be sitting in the cart with me.
“I can assure you right now, nobody knows better than Jim that that’s not going to be the case.
“He’s a good family friend, and he’s a guy that I admire.
“I’ll be sharing conversations with him like I will with a lot of close friends over the next two years, but the idea of him sitting in the cart beside me flying around Gleneagles is not going to happen.
The European Team captain told the Irish Independent “Martin O’Neill was talked about in the same context. Yes, Martin’s a good friend of mine and I’ll be having conversations with him and Jim.
“It’s a matter of me gathering information and listening to other people’s views. By all means I’ll be all ears, and by all means I’m interested to know if I’m missing something. That’s what friends are for, particularly guys in positions like Martin and Jim.”