Somebody has leaked the news: Monty

to be Ryder Cup captain next year

FROM THE TIMESONLINE WEBSITE
EXCLUSIVE By JOHN HOPKINS
The love affair between Colin Montgomerie and the Ryder Cup will be consummated at Celtic Manor in September 2010. European Tour officials, having made a policy decision to select the best available captain for each future Ryder Cup, are doing everything they can to make sure that Europe regain the trophy that was lost at Valhalla last year and will shortly confirm that the Scot will lead the team in Wales.
The first signs that Montgomerie was going to be involved much sooner than the match at Gleneagles in 2014, for which he had hitherto been pencilled in, came on Thursday. Bookmakers in Britain reported heavy betting on the Scot being the first choice as next year’s captain if José María Olazábal turned it down to play his way into the team.
Clearly there had been leaks from the meeting of the Tour’s tournament committee held in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday evening, when the names of Montgomerie and Olazábal were mentioned as future captains, but no decision was made. Odds on Montgomerie being involved in the 2010 match dropped from 16-1 to 2-1 within a few hours on Thursday.
Despite these leaks, the tournament committee wanted to delay the announcement until a committee meeting in Dubai scheduled for January 28. That remains the position. “No decision on the Ryder Cup captain has so far been taken,” George O’Grady, chief executive of the European Tour, said yesterday. “The Ryder Cup captain will be decided at that meeting.”
All the signs in the desert yesterday, however, were that the job will be Montgomerie’s, particularly after Sergio Gómez, Olazábal’s manager, confirmed that his client had not been offered the 2010 captaincy, contrary to previous indications.
“Thomas Björn sounded him out four weeks ago but we have heard nothing since,” Gómez said. Olazábal will not play in Qatar next week because of a recurrence of rheumatism.
There are two other reasons why it will be Montgomerie and not Olazábal. The latest thinking is that, to remain in touch with the players, captains need to be younger than Nick Faldo, who was 51 when he captained Europe at Valhalla last year. Montgomerie will be 47 at Celtic Manor and will have spent most of the season competing against many of those he will want in his team.
A second reason concerns history, which tells us that Montgomerie cannot be captain in the US because of the feeling against him that existed, even though much of it has dissipated.
At the 1999 Ryder Cup, for example, James Montgomerie was so upset by the abuse being directed at his son that he walked off the course after seven holes. It would be insensitive and a mistake to consider putting Montgomerie in a position where old feelings against him might be revived.
When, in Dubai in 11 days’ time, Montgomerie is named as Europe’s captain, it will allow Olazábal to take the reins at Medinah near Chicago in 2012, when he will be 46. Paul McGinley, who is 42, Darren Clarke, 40, and Lee Westwood, 35, all of whom will probably captain a Ryder Cup team, should be asked to form an orderly queue.
The way that things have changed since Tuesday night might explain Montgomerie’s good humour yesterday after he had completed his second round in the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship, a five-under-par 67 that left him six strokes behind Richard Green and Graeme Storm, the joint leaders.
“We are no further forward with that selection process than we were when we left the meeting last Tuesday — I know as much as anyone else,” Montgomerie said, managing to keep a straight face. But, he could not suppress a smile as he walked away, asking cheerily: “Was that diplomatic enough?”
Paul Casey, who has played in winning Seve Trophy teams captained by Montgomerie, has been impressed by his leadership. “He was very attentive.” Casey said. “He asked us what we wanted. We said, ‘A ping pong table in the team room.’ He showed good attention to detail. He spoke well at meetings. He got the guys nicely motivated. There was lots of consultation with us. We felt very much a team.”
Making Montgomerie and Olazábal the captains for the next two Ryder Cups would significantly enhance Europe’s chances in the event.
“History shows that the captain is very important,” Padraig Harrington said yesterday. “I think Monty is the right man. He will make a great captain.”
In the Ryder Cups at The Belfry in 2002 and The K Club in 2006 Montgomerie was the player chosen by his team-mates and captain to lead Europe in the singles matches. The images remain as clear in the mind’s eye as if they had happened yesterday. If the Scot had been given the European flag to carry and told to shout: “Follow me, lads”, the significance could not have been greater.
Montgomerie was considered the man to answer his continent’s call by giving a winning example to his 11 team-mates. Both times he not only delivered the point expected of him but seemed at home as he did so. His singles record is remarkable, having won six and halved two of his eight matches in the biennial competition against the United States.