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"Darren Clarke was blunt regarding his upcoming Ryder Cup selection process: Feelings, and friendships, could be hurt.\nRelated: Darren Clarke says his OCD, &amp;quot;ruthless streak&amp;quot; will be on display at the Ryder Cup\nOn the surface, this was a response to those believing the 2011 Open champion will make buddies Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter captain&amp;#39;s picks. While Westwood and Poulter are Ryder Cup stalwarts, both have seen their games go south in the past year.\nFor Westwood&amp;#39;s part, he doesn&amp;#39;t want to make the team on the merits of his past play.\n\u201CI can put Darren\u2019s mind at rest on that front,\u201D Westwood told the Guardian. &amp;quot;The last thing you want is to get a pick and not justify it. I\u2019d say to Darren -- even before contemplating picking me -- not to pick me if I wasn\u2019t playing well.&amp;quot;\nWestwood has made nine Ryder Cup appearances, seven which have been European wins. However, the 42-year-old has struggled as of late. The former No. 1 player sits at No. 66 in the world rankings, and hasn&amp;#39;t won in two years.\nFacebookPinterestGetty ImagesWestwood seems to be cognizant of this golf mortality, admitting that other demands -- most notably, a recent divorce, and his investment as owner of a world-class race horse -- have kept him from practicing. Still, he&amp;#39;s not ready to throw in the towel on his playing career.\n\u201CI would like to go on a little bit longer,\u201D Westwood said. \u201CTwo or three years, then think about the Ryder Cup captaincy. If I put my name in for the captaincy in four years\u2019 time then I can think about the seniors after that.\u201D\nWestwood&amp;#39;s leadership aspirations are why, even if he fails to make the team as a player, he plans on making the trip to Hazeltine in the fall.\n&amp;quot;If not (playing), I\u2019m happy to go along and get some captaincy experience as vice-captain,&amp;quot; Westwood said.\nNevertheless, Westwood has loaded his schedule to make one last run as a playing member for Team Europe, starting this week at the Shell Houston Open, along with a visit to Augusta National.\n\u201CThere\u2019s life in the old dog yet,\u201D remarked Westwood. \u201CI have not played a lot recently but I\u2019m still No. 66 in the world and in most of the big events coming up, so I must be doing something right.&amp;quot;\n\nWATCH: GOLF DIGEST VIDEOS\n"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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