GOLF RYDER CUP NEWS:COLIN MONTGOMERIE, so often the talisman for Europe's Ryder Cup team, but rather tellingly missing from last year's defeat at Valhalla in Kentucky, doesn't like losing; least of all at the hands of the Americans. So, when his peers on the European Tour players' committee came calling, the Scot answered in the affirmative and – four years ahead of schedule – will captain Europe in next year's event at Celtic Manor in Wales.
To all and sundry, it had seemed that Monty’s time to captain the team would be at Gleneagles in Scotland in 2014. Yet, as if to underline the fickle nature of the sport, Montgomerie came in from left field – to beat, amongst others, Jose Maria Olazabal and Sandy Lyle to the captaincy – in what Thomas Bjorn, the chairman of the players’ committee, said was an “unanimous” decision upon making the announcement in Dubai yesterday.
Montgomerie’s total of 23.5 points as a player is second only to Nick Faldo, who captained the team in Valhalla but – at the ripe age of 51 – was deemed out of touch with the players on his team. If Montgomerie had waited until Gleneagles, he’d have been the same age as Faldo in assuming the captaincy. So, the earlier than expected request, with Paul McGinley one of his advocates at committee level, has earned the inspirational Scot the hot-seat. He will be 47 and still very much a playing member of the tour.
The mission? “That’s very easy, we go and we claim the Ryder Cup. I’ve been given a task, not just to captain this team in Wales, but to win back the Ryder Cup in Wales,” remarked Montgomerie at the official announcement.
Then, pointing to an empty spot in front of him, he added: “The last three (European) Ryder Cup captains have had the privilege of sitting here with the Ryder Cup in front of them. We don’t, and it’s my job to make sure that it comes true for the following captain in 2012.”
It had been expected that there would be a joint announcement of the 2010 and 2012 captains yesterday, but the committee decided to make it a one-off.
“At one stage, we thought about naming two captains,” admitted Bjorn, “but we felt that we should concentrate on one captain at a time. That is what we should be doing and I can say the committee was unanimous in thinking Colin was the right man to win the Ryder Cup and take those men into battle.”
Montgomerie has ruled out any possibility of contending for a playing role at Celtic Manor, going so far as to ensure that any points he would earn in the qualifying campaign – which commences with the European Masters this September and concludes at the Johnnie Walker Championship in Gleneagles in August 2010 – will be nullified.
“This is one of the proudest moments I can think of,” said Montgomerie, an eight-times winner of the European Tour’s order of merit. “It’s not just an honour, but a huge responsibility as well . . . I would like to stress I am delighted to be taking this role now for 2010. You can wait too long to become captain and lose touch. I did not want that to happen and this opportunity has ensured it will not.”
Montgomerie emerged as a late contender for the captaincy, as recently as the Abu Dhabi championship just three weeks ago. Until then, there had seemed little prospect of him making himself available, and Monty had even touted Lyle as his preferred choice. However, he was influenced by his peers on tour. “I listened and took heed of what they were saying. It just seems the time is right for me to take the helm and be captain.”
Of the players at his disposal, Montgomerie said: “We have . . . a nucleus of the team [that] I am sure will remain. We have new talent emerging which I will be very excited to captain . . . with the wealth of talent we have on the European Tour, we could field three teams that are almost as strong as each other.”
Although indicating that Olazabal – now favoured to assume the captaincy for the 2012 match in Medinah — would be part of his team at Celtic Manor, Montgomerie said that he would form a back-room team “in due course”.
THE DETAILS
How many major championships did Montgomerie win?
None. Year after year during at the height of his game, Monty saw major titles slip from his grasp. He finished runner-up five times in majors from 1994 to 2006, including losing two play-offs. He lost a three-man play-off to Ernie Els in the 1994 US Open at Oakmont; again finished runner-up to Els in the 1997 US Open at Congressional, and he also was runner-up to Geoff Ogilvy in the 2006 US Open at Winged Foot, when he double-bogeyed the last hole. He also lost a play-off to Steve Elkington in the 1995 US PGA at Riviera, and was five shots adrift of Tiger Woods when finishing second in the 2005 British Open at St Andrews.
Why does the Ryder Cup mean so much to him?
It probably compensated – to a degree – for his failure to win a major. Montgomerie played in eight Ryder Cups and became Europe's on-course inspiration. He made his debut in 1991 at Kiawah Island and was on the winning team in 1995, 1997, 2002, 2004 and 2006. In all, he has played 36 matches with 20 wins and seven halved. He remains undefeated in eight singles matches, winning six times and halving twice.
Does he have any history with US captain Corey Pavin?
Well, they've played each other three times in the Ryder Cup . . . and Pavin has a 2-1 edge on the Scot. Montgomerie and Bernhard Langer lost to Pavin and Steve Pate 2 and 1 on the second day fourballs in 1991. He teamed up with Nick Faldo to beat Lanny Wadkins and Pavin on the second day's foursomes at the Belfry in 1993, but lost (again with Faldo) to Tom Lehman and Pavin on the first day's foursomes at Oak Hill in 1995.
Why didn't he wait until the 2012 match in Medinah?
Monty has never been the most popular player with the American crowds. He was given the name "Mrs Doubtfire" by US fans, and was heckled by crowds during the US Open at Congressional in 1997 and for a number of years after that. Once, after losing in the World Matchplay in La Costa in 2002, he responded to a golf fan by saying, "There's only one thing worse than losing, and that's spending another day in your country." In more recent times, he seems to have won over many American fans – mainly because of his Ryder Cup record – but it's a more sensible decision to captain a side on this side of the Atlantic.
Mrs Doubtfire? Any other monikers?
David Feherty didn't get onto his Christmas card list when he said Monty "has a face like a warthog that's been stung by wasp".
