LOUISVILLE, Kentucky: Nick Faldo has ruled out another run at the European Ryder Cup captaincy following his team's 16.5-11.5 thrashing at the hands of the United States.

The Englishman earned the unwanted distinction of becoming the skipper on whose watch the trophy was lost after six years in European hands. "Who knows … I doubt it," Faldo said when asked if he would consider seeking the captaincy again. "I believe it was a one-stop shot, as they would say."

The American victory left a sour taste in the mouths of the European players, with Cup veteran Lee Westwood criticising US fans for dirty tricks aimed at upsetting players on the final day.

The Englishman said he received a phone call in his room just after midnight wishing him luck, and that his mother and father - who were with him in Kentucky - were then called at 4.30am. "They got the wrong hotel and rang the wrong Westwood room," he said. "I found that quite amusing. It upset my dad's preparations for walking around the course today."

Westwood, who lost his singles 2 and 1 to Ben Curtis, related a bizarre incident when a fan draped in a white sheet leapt out in front of him as he went from the fifth green to the sixth tee.

"There was this ghost that jumped out at me between 5 and 6 and went, 'Booooooo' to my face, and he was the one that got ejected, but he was the one that made me laugh," he said. "All of the abuse that I got was fairly nasty, and that was pretty shameful. But that was only a minority, and the crowds were great.

"I expected them to get behind the American team, which they did, but some people don't know the difference between supporting their team and abusing the opposition, which is unfortunate."

The defeat, Europe's worst in 27 years, brought down the curtain on a difficult week for Faldo.The six-time major winner took the risky decision on Sunday to play his top players at the back end of his singles line-up, hoping the early starters could keep the match alive.

That didn't happen, and the final four European players - Padraig Harrington, Westwood, the in-form Ian Poulter and Graeme McDowell - ended up playing in meaningless games.

Faldo, though, insisted it had been a risk worth taking. "We had it planned that if we could just get it through to the last four … " he said. "That was the risk we took and we have literally come out one guy short. Padraig [Harrington] wanted it that way; if we could have got into the last four. You miss out by one match - we are divided by fractions."

Faldo said he had no regrets over the decisions he took as captain, saying he had done everything he could to emulate the victories of his three predecessors - Ian Woosnam, Bernhard Langer and Sam Torrance. He had the consolation of seeing Poulter, whom he controversially selected as his second wildcard pick ahead of Darren Clarke and Colin Montgomerie, produce a superb performance, winning four out of five points to finish as the competition's top scorer.

But that is unlikely to divert the criticism that will be aimed at him back home in Britain, where his single-minded devotion to success as a player brought him grudging respect but little affection.

AFP