By Craig Swan

Copyright dailyrecord

Justin Rose is adamant he wants to keep being a Ryder Cup star before making any step up to being a captain. The Englishman produced yet another storybook display in New York to help Europe triumph at Bethpage. Rose’s seventh appearance was excellent as he played a key role in helping his pal Luke Donald go back-to-back as a winning skipper. With the Big Apple successfully devoured, Ryder Cup Europe’s next big decision rests on whether Donald takes a third term for Adare Manor in 2027 or steps away after his home and away wins. Should Donald go, Rose would appear an obvious contender to step into the role for the clash against the United States in Ireland. But the stumbling block to that theory is that the 45-year-old is still delivering massively on the course at the top-level with a Fed-Ex St Jude win, a runner-up in the Masters and a couple of points on Long Island this year. Rose is determined to keep fighting for elite titles and, at this stage of his career, seems driven more to be back in the 12-man unit for an eighth as a player as opposed to the notion of actually leading the group on the Emerald Isle . He said: “As long as I’m playing well enough, making Ryder Cups is not what the goal is, the goal is to play and win points and contribute to the team. As long as I think I can do that, then yes, that’s very much the goal. “The captaincy is not in two years time, it starts in two months, or something. That’s something I haven’t got my head around and what it means. I don’t understand how it rolls out over a two year cycle. “I’m not even sure when this decision needs to be made. There’s no clear path on this, it’s Luke’s decision, first and foremost, see what he wants to do, then go from there, it remains to be seen. “The captaincy would compromise my playing schedule, that’s the decision I haven’t come to terms with. Or made. I think there’s a lot of reflection on this. “Sentiment, from captains and vice-captains, is that if you can play, play. Nothing beats playing. “Luke’s given a new dimension to the captaincy, I think, what it means to be a captain, how much effort is involved in it. So, he’s set a really high standard. You’ve got to be ready for that, as and when. “But over the years, the boys have said you can’t beat playing days, they’re the times of your life. Protect that first and foremost, I’m still hungry, I’m still enjoying the game, pushing me to go to places I didn’t know I could. “The environment I was in [at Bethpage], it’s what it’s all about, even at 45, I’ve never experienced that before, so if you can keep having experiences that you’ve never had before, that’s worth everything. “Luke has the opportunity to decide what he wants to do. That’s number one. I think that I’m relishing my goal at the moment, I’m still hungry and enjoying it, it’s challenging me to put myself in environments I’ve never been before, while I still have that opportunity, still challenging myself as a player. “A lot of captains have said, take your playing days for as long as you can. It’s not about being on a team, but it’s about playing well enough to be useful to that team. That’s my goal, I think, going forward. But I’ve not been giving it too much thought. “There’s a lot of digesting to do for the week, good and bad, how can the team get better in the future? A really positive week for everybody. There was a lot of build-up to this one, probably a four-year build-up to this one.” Rose would rather savour the moment of New York for a while and continued: “Reflecting on it now, it was an incredible week. The way the singles played out showed what a monumental task it was. Once they got rolling, it was very difficult to win points. “The 18th hole, the first two matches, mine and Tommy’s match, the board can flip blue or red. Those are the putts we made all week, until Sunday, you have to fight tooth and nail. To get to 14-and-a-half points is difficult. “We broke the back of the week early, to win every session in the team format is incredible and testament to how we pulled together, we needed that lead. We couldn’t quite believe how well it was going. “It was a massive challenge and a huge occasion. It’s a wow, we did it.” Rose relished the celebrations and drank to all five Euros wins in the States, but the party was not ridiculous as he explained: “Everyone was quite measured, wanting to enjoy the moment, be present, not blow the roof off it. Look around, have those memories to last forever, some amazing wine, the vintages of all the away wins through the years. “It was cool storytelling, some amazing wines from ‘87, ‘95, ‘04, 2012, so we went through the card. I don’t know why, this is the one you’d think, all the pressure, the potential to blow the roof off. It was so special, everyone just wanted to be with each other and that was cool.”