Europe captain Paul McGinley has booked former Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson to give a motivational talk at his team's pre-Ryder Cup dinner at Gleneagles.
Speaking after the announcement, McGinley explained how he enlisted the services of the Man Utd stalwart.
He is a guy who I played with at pro-am about 15 years and when I became captain I asked if he would do it.
He said he would, but asked that we keep it quiet. But then him walking around with [Europe’s director of communications] Gordon Simpson is not keeping it quiet! The players don’t know yet, though, and we want to keep it a surprise.
Although McGinley is a West Ham fan, he expressed his delight at acquiring a sporting icon of Ferguson's calibre.
Although I am not a Manchester United fan I always loved the way his teams played. The more I met him the more it seemed a natural fit.
We have met a number of times over the last few months for lunch. He has asked me a lot of questions, he is a big fan of golf, but not everyone who will be in the room is a Manchester United fan so it should be interesting.
The Scot will join Welsh rugby legend Gareth Edwards and Bayern Munich manager Pep Guardiola as top personalities from other sports to have spoken with the Europe team ahead of the Ryder Cup. Edwards spoke with the team four years ago at Celtic Manor Resort while Guardiola was the motivational speaker at the last tournament at Medinah.
Rumour that David Moyes is being lined up as the speaker for the next tournament is already causing widespread panic among golf fans.
