Okay, so even the dogs in the street were aware that Des Smyth would be one of Ian Woosnam's vice-captains for next year's Ryder Cup match at The K Club.

Yesterday, though, Europe's captain proved that old friends are best and made it official by naming Smyth - these days plying his trade extremely successfully on the Champions Tour in the United States - and England's Peter Baker as his two assistants.

Although the world and its mother seemed to be on hand at Straffan yesterday for the official announcement, Smyth wasn't present. Instead, he was in New York preparing for the Commerce Bank Championship.

"I'm excited, over the moon," enthused Smyth, speaking by telephone. "I desperately wanted to be involved in the Ryder Cup in Ireland. It's an historic occasion, the biggest sporting event the country will ever stage. I'd have been volunteering for some kind of role if I hadn't got this job."

Smyth was actually informed by Woosnam some months ago, when the Welshman was appointed at the Dubai Desert Classic in March.

"By God, he's his own man," said Smyth. "I was never strong on committees so I had no right to expect anything. But Ian let me know as soon as he was appointed. We've been good friends for a long time.

"I remember we travelled the world and shared rooms at a time when we didn't have two bucks to rub together."

Tom Lehman, the US captain for the match, remarked: "I think they're great selections . . . but when you add that on top of having (Padraig) Harrington and (Darren) Clarke and (Paul) McGinley and maybe (Graeme) McDowell, Des's selection just adds more flavour, more fun to the event.

"The thing I appreciate most about the Ryder Cup is the passion and the enthusiasm and the nationalism and the songs that you hear out on the golf course, the flags and the people painting their faces.

"To me, that's what makes the Ryder Cup special and I believe that having Des Smyth as part of Ian's team will just add to that. I think it makes it even better."

From his own team's perspective, Lehman also said that it was unlikely that Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson would be paired together again. "Oh gosh, that pairing should have worked, there's no doubt about that. You know, I would never ever say never. But I would probably have to have those guys come to me and say 'we want a second chance' before I did that (pair them)."

Woosnam's management team will comprise Smyth and Baker as his vice-captains, with Sandy Lyle and DJ Russell as assistants to the vice-captains.

In his own frank way, Woosie added: "Put it this way, I'll be more involved with Des and Peter. I'll be making decisions and I will be asking their advice and what they think. They will have their own little thoughts, but hopefully I'm picking two members who think like me, think the right way. And when we go and we pick the team, we'll be working all together."

The qualifying campaign for the European team starts with the Omega European Masters on September 1st-4th, but Woosnam conceded that he has some concerns about the number of top Europeans now playing mainly on the US Tour.

"It'll be interesting to see what schedules they have got next year . . . hopefully, if they desperately want to play in the Ryder Cup, they will make the right decision. I can see that people want to get on with their life and it all depends on how badly they want to play in the Ryder Cup. You know, they have got to accept their fate if they don't support the European Tour."