Europe look to 2014 after 'Miracle of Medinah'

The duo were two of skipper Jose Maria Olazabal's assistants as the Europeans completed one of the great sporting comebacks, overturning what was at one stage a 10-4 deficit in the favour of the US into a 14½ to 13½ victory.

The European Tour's tournament committee chaired by Dane Thomas Bjorn, another of the vice-captains in Chicago, is expected to make a decision in January.

World number one Rory McIlroy believes that Clarke should be captain one day, but maybe not at Gleneagles in two years' time.

He said: "I've always said I think Clarkey would be a great captain here in America. I think the crowds really love him, so maybe save Darren for 2016."

The US media were savage in their criticism of their team in the aftermath of what was a shocking defeat for the hosts, who had looked on course for a comfortable win on Saturday night.

The Chicago Tribune, the local newspaper of the Medinah course where this year's tournament was held, called the loss "inexcusable," while world number two Tiger Woods came in for flak from many, having now finished on the losing side in six of the seven Ryder Cups he has played in.

There was also no shortage of sour grapes from the US media, in contrast to its team that took the loss with grace.

The Tribune's David Haugh chided Woods for only achieving a half from his match with Francesco Molinari, "whoever he is," while many newspaper websites had news of the Ryder Cup buried behind news reports on baseball and gridiron.