KEIGHLEY-born caddy Billy Foster believes Paul McGinley is the best European captain yet.

The Bingley St Ives member appeared in his 12th Ryder Cup – more than any player or caddy on either side – as the hosts retained their crown with a 16½-11½ win over USA at Gleneagles.

His involvement in golf’s biggest competition since 1987 has seen him part of successful teams captained by names such as Tony Jacklin, Bernard Gallacher, Seve Ballesteros, Bernhard Langer and Colin Montgomerie.

But he reckons Irishman McGinley’s leadership set a new standard. Foster, who is Lee Westwood’s bagman, said: “He is the best captain we’ve ever had.

“I told him that two or three times afterwards and probably a few more times the longer the celebrations went on!”

McGinley’s attention to detail and his ability to unite the whole European camp stood out for Foster, who said: “He made everyone feel great. He got everyone involved and trusted our opinions.

“He had meetings with everyone, including us caddies, and the info we provided he took on board and then made his decisions. There were some tough calls but he got them right.”

Foster, who lives in Eldwick but grew up in Keighley, rated Europe’s success as one of the best he’s experienced, saying: “The K Club will never be beaten (when he caddied for Darren Clarke) but that was up there in the top three. The atmosphere round the first tee was amazing and was more like a football stadium.”

Not surprisingly, the celebrations went on into the early hours of Monday morning and Foster admitted: “When some of the American party were coming down for breakfast, I thought it was probably time for bed! I was in the team room until 6.30am and spent the last couple of hours with Ricky Fowler and Jim Furyk.”

A key factor in Europe’s win was their 7-1 success in the foursomes, which saw Westwood claim two points in partnership with rookie Jamie Donaldson, whose victory in the singles clinched the cup.

Foster said: “There was some great chemistry between Lee and Jamie, who I’m not surprised did well. He is a bit Poulter-esque and very cocksure of himself. I like his attitude.

“Though Lee lost his singles to Jimmy Walker, he played great and was five under. Jimmy was eight under and there’s not a lot you can do about that. If he’d played someone else he could have won 6 and 5.”

Foster, a big Leeds United fan, also gave his take on bantering with former Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson, who was brought in by McGinley to provide a motivational speech in the build-up.

He joked: “I shook his hand and said ‘pleased to meet you’ before admitting to him ‘this is very hard for me as I’ve spent my whole life hating you!’ “ I also told him what I thought about him signing Eric Cantona but that can’t be repeated!”