Darren Clarke may not take Ryder role

Darren Clarke says he is considering pulling out of the race to become Europe's Ryder Cup captain for 2014 because of the impact it would have on his career over the next two years.

Clarke and Paul McGinley are the two main candidates to succeed Jose Maria Olazabal, with the European Tour's tournament committee expected to vote in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday. However, Clarke said that after seeing an improvement in his own game towards the end of the 2012 season he is not sure he wants to take on such a time-consuming commitment.

The 2011 Open champion said after his second round at the Volvo Champions in Durban: "I am exempt for another three years [for major events] and if I was given the opportunity to do the captaincy I'd effectively be throwing two of those years away."