Europe's Ryder Cup-winning captain Jose Maria Olazabal compared the performance of Ian Poulter at Medinah to that of his late countryman Seve Ballesteros.
Olazabal led Europe to a remarkable comeback from 10-4 down to beat the United States on a thrilling final day. Poulter was one of Olazabal's two wild card choices for the competition and repaid the faith shown in him by remaining unbeaten over the course of the weekend.
"For whatever reason this event for him means so much, he thrives in it and I think it brings the best (out) of him on the golf course," said Olazabal, who ruled himself out of captaining the team in future Ryder Cups. "In a way he reminds me a bit of Seve in that regard, that intensity, that focus, that will to win the point is very close to Seve."
Poulter birdied the last five holes of his fourballs match with Rory McIlroy against Jason Dufner and Zach Johnson to earn a vital point. Olazabal selected the 36-year-old's birdie putt on the 18th which clinched that match as his favourite of the tournament.
"The putt Poulter made at the 18th on Saturday was huge. If that didn't happen we wouldn't have had a chance going into the final day," he said. "I was pretty much 99 per cent confident that the ball will go in the hole."
The European team wore navy and white in a tribute to Ballesteros, who captained the team to Ryder Cup glory in 1997, and Olazabal feels Poulter could achieve the same feat in the future.
"Well if he is the captain that is obviously a great thing," he said. "He will bring the passion of the Ryder Cup, but he will need another 12 players like him and that is hard to find. Obviously he will be a wonderful captain for sure."
Poulter may be a future Ryder Cup captain, but Olazabal, 46, will not be taking control when the tournament returns in two years at Gleneagles or beyond.
When asked if he would like to captain Europe again, he said: "Yes, in a way, but I can assure you that is going to be a no. Period. I think nowadays, first of all it is a lot of work and it takes a lot of you during the stretch of time that you are named captain to the playing of the Ryder Cup.
"On top of that there are a lot of players who should have the opportunity to be in my spot and the Ryder Cup is played only once every two years."
