Europe's victorious Ryder Cup captain Bernhard Langer has hinted that he is unlikely to carry on in the job for the 2006 contest.

The German oversaw a record win in Detroit but, although he did not give a definite answer, he appears ready to step aside.

Speaking at a press conference at Heathrow Airport last night as the team returned from the US, Langer said: "I need time to reflect.

"I think I'm going to stick to what I said before, which is that I'll only do this once and I think it's only fair to give the other guys a chance."

Langer again paid tribute to his formidable team which performed beyond all expectations.

"I think it still needs to sink in. We set out a week ago to try to take the cup and we didn't just defend it, we actually had an overwhelming victory.

"I'm so proud of these 12 players. They did and incredible job. We could not have dreamed of doing a better job.

"We beat them on Friday, we beat them on Saturday and we beat them in the singles. We just had the most awesome week you can imagine."

Langer revealed he had made his players build bridges with the Oakland Hills crowd and that public relations exercise paid dividends.

"I think we did a great thing on the practice days. I told the guys to sign autographs. We won the crowd over. There were several times the Americans were booed on the practice days because they didn't sign autographs as much as we did."

Montgomerie said the respect he and his team-mates had for Langer was a motivating factor in their win.

"It starts off with the word 'respect', all 12 of us have a huge respect for Bernhard Langer.

"When you have that respect you want to win, not only for the European Tour and ourselves but also for Bernhard. We won it for him as much as ourselves, it was very much a team effort."

Montgomerie also revealed he could play in the next Ryder Cup if he held on to his form.

"If I perform the way I did this time I think I can do well. That's a decision for me and the person who has to pick me next time.

"I enjoy the format and I enjoy playing for others as well as myself sometimes. It's something to do with my personality, the format and the game."