Philip Reid finds Europe's off-course leader Colin Montgomerie in upbeat mood 'It's a two-horse race and we have a super chance. I think it is goingto be very close again.'

With Colin Montgomerie, you never know what you'll get. Most times, he's charming and articulate, all sweetness and light. On other occasions, he's grumpy and scowling, all sourpuss and darkness. He hasn't won a major, and increasingly looks like he never will, and that is when you're most likely to see him sulking, but put him into a Ryder Cup team and he is very much at home. A pussy cat off the course, a tiger on it.

Of all the European players at The Belfry, Monty has been the one who has seemed most relaxed. On Tuesday, he was playing the 12th hole - a par three of 208 yards - and he missed the green. When he walked up to his ball, he looked with disdain at the lie. "I don't fancy that," mumbled the Scot. One of the spectators, within ear-shot, said, "I do." Montgomerie handed him his sand wedge, and the spectator chipped it dead. "Of course, I had to have a go then, and I chipped up and missed the putt," he recalled.

But that's Montgomerie for you. You never know what you'll get. Except that the Americans know what to expect come competition time tomorrow. They'll get a fired-up player who gets excited by the Ryder Cup, and what it means. Ask Colin Montgomerie for his finest moments on a golf course, and one of the times he'll pick is the last Ryder Cup at Brookline.

"In America, that's the best I've ever played."

Since making his debut at Kiawah Island in 1991, Montgomerie has taken the Ryder Cup to his heart. On that occasion, he was asked to play three matches; he returned 1½ points. Since then, he has matured into a key man for Europe. His fighting qualities are best exemplified by his singles records. He hates losing. In five singles matches, he has won three and halved two. He has never lost.

All spring and summer, we have listened to tales of Montgomerie's injury worries. At the back of his mind was the fear he would miss out on this week, the biggest of the season for him. Others, like Tiger Woods, have reserved their best play for the majors, rather than the Ryder Cup, but with Montgomerie, it has been the other way round.

"I've played reasonably well in this competition," he admitted. "I don't know why it should be. I think I have more freedom with the putts because it is matchplay, and I hit the ball harder on the greens and the ball seems to go in more than not. I like matchplay. I like a one-on-one situation. I like to see my opponent playing alongside me as opposed to 150 other guys spread all over the course. I like the format and I like the form of it and I tend to play well."

So, the fear for the Europeans was that he wouldn't get here; that his back would fold. But he's here, and he's glad.

"It's a tournament I obviously look forward to, and I'm glad I am fit enough to play. And, if asked, I am fit enough to play every game. It depends on how Sam (Torrance) sees things, and how things go. I wouldn't have travelled here if I couldn't have played five times. And there were occasions over the past few months when I thought I wouldn't make it, that I thought I would have to take the rest of the year off. There were times I didn't think I was going to play."

But here he is, and Montgomerie can't wait to get playing. In practice yesterday, he played all 18 holes with Bernhard Langer, whose caddie Pete Coleman was unable to carry his bag because of an injured shoulder. The two veterans of the team could expect to play together - just as they did at Valderrama in 1997 when they won both foursomes - and Montgomerie, for one, is bullish about Europe's chances going into the event. Ask him does the team have a real, genuine chance, and he bristles.

"We have a great chance. It's a two-horse race and we have a super chance. I think it is going to be very close again. It will come down to someone's game on Sunday and that will sort of turn the matches either way. It has always been that way over the last six or seven matches I have played in. The Americans have been favourites the last, I don't know, 10 times possibly, and haven't always won. I think that's because it is over 18 holes and someone can get up early and hang on."

As he has developed as Ryder Cup leader, Montgomerie has become Europe's on-course leader and, in many ways, off-course leader too. He was Europe's number one player throughout the 1990s and, if that has changed, with Sergio Garcia and Padraig Harrington ahead of him now, he would like to resume the on-course leadership again.

"It's a position I like and thrive on," he said. "But I don't have the number one tag, if you like, and I think that's quite good."

So, whatever is said behind closed doors in the team room, Montgomerie would like nothing better if it all came down to him inspiring on the course. Just like in the old days.