Olazabal is offered the Ryder Cup captaincy for 2010

Twice Masters champion Jose Maria Olazabal has been offered the captaincy of Europe's Ryder Cup team at Celtic Manor in 2010.

The Spaniard, playing in just his third event at Augusta after a seven-month lay-off owing to illness, was approached recently by tournament players' committee chairman Thomas Bjorn, and has promised an answer by July.

The news will come as a severe blow to supporters of Sandy Lyle, who had been hoping that he would get the nod, with Ian Woosnam as vice-captain.

Far more probable is an all-Spanish ticket for the first-ever Ryder Cup in Wales, with Miguel Angel Jimenez as Ollie's No 2.

At 42, Olazabal, Nick Faldo's right-hand man for this year's match, is young to be offered the job. But with health problems increasingly impacting on his ability to play, the time would appear right.

Olazabal has been told by doctors that he will have to take the chemotherapy drug Methotrexate for the rest of his life. It is also used to treat rheumatoid arthritis, the terrible illness that prevented him playing for 18 months in the 1990s.

Long-time manager and confidante Sergio Gomez denies his recent lay-off was due to a recurrence. 'He was tested for that and 200 other illnesses but they couldn't find a cause,' he said.

'They said it must be stress-related. The trouble with taking Methotrexate is that it leaves him feeling really tired and unable to contemplate a full schedule.'