José María Olazábal has confirmed that he will be selecting four Vice Captains for the European Team which will defend The Ryder Cup against the United States, captained by Davis Love III, at Medinah Country Club, Chicago, Illinois, on September 28-30.

Olazábal said: “I am surprised to learn that there have been media reports suggesting that we will have only two Vice Captains. I don’t know where they could have come from, or whether there has been some misunderstanding, but I want to make it clear that I will be selecting four Vice Captains. This is what Davis and I agreed in Chicago at the Year Out meeting last September.

“I have said many times that as a Vice Captain myself in 2008 and 2010 I learned that you need a lot of help that week. You need eyes, extra eyes to follow the players in the practice rounds to gather as much information as you can about how everyone is playing.

“Then it is important to have each match watched because you have to hand in your pairings for the afternoon matches when the players are still out on the course. That means it is absolutely essential to have all the information you can get before you put those pairings down on paper to be handed in.

“I would say it is borderline to do The Ryder Cup with less than four Vice Captains. So I want to make it quite clear to everyone that I will be selecting four and that never at any time have I considered reducing that number to three let alone two.”