Monty Already Greatest Captain In History Of Ryder Cup **

The British Press is doing what it does best...building him up before they inevitably slap him around. Enjoy it Monty, because you know this won't last.

Mike Aitken in The Scotsman:

But Monty's credentials as one of Europe's greatest Ryder Cup players, along with an intimate knowledge of the men he will lead at Celtic Manor, swung the decision in his favour. Following in the footsteps of compatriots George Duncan, Johnny Fallon, Eric Brown, Bernard Gallacher and Sam Torrance, Montgomerie, who lives in Perthshire, had hoped to be honoured with the captaincy at Gleneagles in 2014.

Mark Reason in the Telegraph:

Many in the game believe that Montgomerie will be just as good a Ryder Cup leader as he has been a player. Peter McEvoy, arguably British golf's greatest captain yet, played with him as an amateur at Walker Cups and Eisenhower Trophys in the Eighties and believes that the Scot has everything it takes.

He said: "His enthusiasm and box office appeal will be very good for the Ryder Cup commercially. Monty will never be out of the newspapers. He loves it. But he's also got a really strong winning instinct.

"People always say that Monty should have won a major, but lacked the killer instinct. I think they've got it the wrong way round. I think he has been held back by a one-dimensional game, but has a hugely winning attitude that he will bring to the Ryder Cup captaincy. He will do what it takes. I can't see a negative."

Nope, me neither.

William Johnson reports that Monty has at least one assistant who will put up with him help him stay in touch with today's players.

Indeed, Montgomerie was so impressed by reports of how influential Olazabal had been in Valhalla last September that he has already offered the Spaniard an assistant's role next year. Olazabal has accepted.

Lawrence Donegan is the only one who sounds cautiously optimistic:

Watching Montgomerie handle his newly acquired status as the most popular man on tour, as well as the dynamics of his personal relations with other players – the good, the bad and ugly – will be one of the more fascinating parlour games of the next 18 months...

Update on 2009-01-29 16:34 by Geoff

**More of the lovefest. Derek Lawrenson in the Daily Mail:

Few will say the committee got it wrong. Here were 15 good men who weighed one alleged indiscretion - when Monty was accused of moving a ball to a more advantageous position after a weather break during a tournament in Indonesia - against the welter of evidence of Monty's good deeds and rightly decided it was time to forgive and move on.

John Hopkins, who also thought Nick Faldo was doing a great job (for a while), in the Times:

Colin Montgomerie will be a good captain of the Europe team at Celtic Manor and he might even be a very good one. He will know the players better than some of his predecessors because he will have been playing alongside them in the days and weeks leading up to the event. This obviously did not apply to Nick Faldo at Valhalla last September.

Monty Takes Euro Captaincy Stakes By Two Lengths

And Jose Maria is not named 2012 captain, so we get to do this all over again in two years!

Update on 2009-01-28 17:35 by Geoff

Alistair Tait on the press conference:

One of the ironies of this announcement was the presence of former European Tour player Gary Evans in the room as the announcement was made. Evans was most vocal in criticizing Monty for what is now known as “Jakartagate.”

Of course that incident will hardly surface over the next 18 months. The European Tour may be bad at many things, but the one thing it excels at is pulling together in the Ryder Cup.

Sergio Refuses To Confirm He's Penciled In As 2029 Ryder Cup Captain

Okay, that's not entirely true but believe it or not, some are already eyeing his possible tenure as the absurd 2010 captaincy debate comes to a head with Wednesday's planned announcement.

Bill Elliott writing for The Guardian:

Ewan Murray, the former Tour player who now is lead commentator for Sky Sports golf, is not alone when he articulates the thought that the Tournament Players Committee is making a mountain out of a molehill by prevaricating on the choice of captain.

"Especially when every­one can see how clear-cut it is, or should be," said Murray. "Monty can't do it in the States because the punters over there would just be into him from the start while Ollie would be ideal for America. The fact is that Gleneagles in five years' time might well be too late for Colin. He'd be too old really so surely it has to be now. Look, it's a different European Tour now. Players are younger, potential Ryder Cup men like Rory McIlroy, Danny Willett and Oliver Wilson, for example, are late teens and very early twenties. They need a connection. The Tour is lucky because there is a logical sequence of potential captains through to 2029. I went through this list with a senior official on the flight over and we ended up filling every spot and ­ending with Sergio García in '29 by which time Sergio will be 49."

I think these people are taking their captaincy talk just a bit far, no?

Mark Garrod weighs the possibilities for both candidates and also lists the endorsement quotes for all of the candidates, including Dennis Kucinich Ian Woosnam.

...the Scot is the one widely expected to be named Ryder Cup captain for next year's match in Wales. Nobody was even guessing such a scenario just a couple of weeks ago.

Both men had expressed their desire to play next year and, if they had stuck to their guns on that, it was almost a given that Olazabal would be in charge in Chicago in 2012, while Montgomerie would lead Europe on home soil at Gleneagles in 2014 and 2010 might have gone to either Sandy Lyle or Ian Woosnam. But they have not stuck to their guns.

Lawrence Donegan reminds us that when you lock grown men in a room and call them a committee, just about anyone has a chance to be named captain.

George O'Grady, the chief executive of the European tour, thought carefully when asked to describe the tenor of debate during a meeting in Abu Dhabi of players and officials – a body formally known as the tournament players committee – two weeks ago to discuss the captaincy of Europe's Ryder Cup side for next year's contest against the United States in Wales.

"Statesmanlike," he said eventually. Two weeks later, not a lot can be said with certainty about the Abu Dhabi meeting but it is safe to say this: it was far from ­statesmanlike. One of those in attendance, a former Ryder Cup player, was overheard the day after telling colleagues it was a shouting match, while another described the experience of sitting in a basement room of a hotel, albeit the seven-star Emirates Palace hotel, for three hours debating the whys and wherefores of the 2010 Ryder Cup captaincy as "exhausting".

Mike Aitken makes a convincing case that the death of Sandy Lyle's bid rests on Nick Faldo's shoulders. Just one more reason the Masters Champions Dinner should be televised.

Karl McGinty believes we have Paul McGinley to thank...assuming Monty gets picked.

Steve Elling and Scott Michaux debate the logic behind each leading candidate.

And Tony Jimenez says it'll be a joint announcement with Monty and Ollie getting the next two jobs.

On Vote Eve, Monty Scores Lee Westwood's Superfluous Endorsement

And he's laying it on kind of thick, no?

“Colin is known for the way he has played in Ryder Cup. He would stand on the first tee – and seeing he is there with his fantastic cup record . . . it would feel like being one up to start with,” Westwood said.

Torrance Praises Committee's Selection Of...Uh, Sam, You Might Want To Wait

The former Captain heaped praise on the committee in this John Huggan column. Only problem is, the same committee may very well just choose to go with someone other than Monty in 2010.

"I like this move by the (European Tour Tournament] committee," declares Torrance. "It shows real forward thinking. They haven't bowed down to any kind of outside pressure. And Monty is the right man for the job. The Ryder Cup is so important to our tour, we just have to get the right man. It raises the profile of the tour and all the players. Nobody would know who the hell I am if it wasn't for the Ryder Cup.

"I think we – and by we I mean Europe – made a mistake when the job was recently given to people who probably deserved it on their records but who weren't the right kind of person. Not this time though. Monty will give it everything."

If he gets the chance.

About this whole age thing. John Hopkins notes as others have that both candidates "are comfortably within the correct age range and both would be in touch with current players, which was felt to be a weakness of Nick Faldo, the last captain of Europe, at Valhalla, Louisville, last September."

Jeff Rude correctly points out that this notion may be overrated.

Nick Faldo (Louisville 2008) has been submitted as Exhibit A of an old guy being out of touch. But as Europe was racking up Ryder Cup victories in the 1980s and ’90s, I don’t recall anyone calling Tony Jacklin or Bernhard Gallagher too old and out of touch. Or Ian Woosnam in ’06, for that matter.

Short losing streak. Short memories.

"One can only imagine what his thoughts were when the news came through yesterday of Olazábal's latest change of heart." **

Lawrence Donegan analyzes the dynamics of Jose Maria Olazábal's apparent interest in the 2010 Ryder Cup captaincy.

Montgomerie has not been offered the job – certainly not formally – but he has clearly been given the impression that next week's meeting in Dubai of the European Tour's tournament players' committee, where a final decision on the captaincy is due to be made, was a forgone conclusion. It may have been, but not any more. Such is Olazábal's stature within the game, and such is the respect with which he is held by his peers, that his newly-announced availability demands to be taken seriously.

Alas poor Monty, who now finds himself reduced from a red-hot certainty to a lukewarm favourite on the whim of a contemporary who has consistently bested him as they have progressed through their careers. One can only imagine what his thoughts were when the news came through yesterday of Olazábal's latest change of heart.

And here's the real crux of the matter for Monty, whose comments to Mark Reason last week could come back to haunt him should he decide to refute the notion that he'll be too old at 51 in 2014:

Olazábal has been far less decisive, or at least he was until Gómez's statement yesterday. There is also apparent agreement of the tournament players' committee that henceforth only players who are competing regularly on the tour will be offered the captaincy. In that case, 2010 represents the Scot's last chance. He may still be on tour in 2012, when the event will be held in Chicago, but his history in the United States, where he has long been the target of the "Hey Monty, eat a salad" brigade, rules him out, surely. Under the new policy, he will be too old by the time Gleneagles comes around in 2014.

Update on 2009-01-24 01:39 by Geoff

** Monty, after his round in Qatar, as quoted by Mike Aitken:

"I'm not saying anything significant today to anyone," Montgomerie insisted after posting 75 and missing the cut by a couple of shots at the Qatar Masters. "I will see you next week and I look forward to it."

Olly's Agent: He's Still Here!

From an unbylined Guardian report:

"He is available. If he is offered the job he will say yes," the Spaniard's manager, Sergio Gómez, said today. "We know it is a matter of two and there are factors favouring José María and factors favouring Monty."

For what year?

And...

The double Masters champion pulled out of this week's event in Qatar but does plan to play the Dubai Desert Classic starting next Thursday. "He had a small problem with his wrists and forearms and it was painful when gripping the club, but not too severe, and he told me yesterday to confirm the flights," added Gómez. "But the chances of him making the team are not what he wanted or expected, so he made up his mind that he would accept the captaincy if it was offered."

Yes, for 2012, when it's offered.

Update on 2009-01-23 01:16 by Geoff

Tony Jimenez says 2010 was the captaincy in question.

Euro Tour To Ensure Future Captains Can Pronounce All Player Names, Be Nice To Sponsors

Lawrence Donegan's story on the new Euro Tour captain's specs adds to the fun of a wild week in the desert.

Last week, a meeting of the tour's tournament players' committee, notable mostly for what one member yesterday described as an "extremely argumentative" discussion over the choice of ­captain for 2010, also reached a ­tentative agreement on a set of ­"captain's ­obligations".

The move comes after Nick Faldo was widely criticised for his captaincy of the European team at Valhalla Golf Club in Kentucky last year, although George O'Grady, the tour's chief executive, said last night the Englishman had been a "complete professional" who had been excellent when it came to the business aspects of the job. "The Ryder Cup is of critical financial importance to the European Tour and we all need to do whatever we can to support the commercial side of the event, the captain included," he said.

"There has been an informal agreement in the past, but it has been a 'fly by the seat of your pants' thing. In the current climate we feel we need something more formal."

That means being contractually obliged to glad-hand with sponsors, turn up for television interviews and seek the approval of tour officials before signing book deals and agreements to write for magazines. O'Grady said any future ­captain's would also receive wide-­ranging advice on public ­speaking.

Gee, I wonder what prompted that?

Some candidates will need such advice more than others. One of those who does not is Colin Montgomerie, who now appears to be the ­overwhelming ­favourite to get the job for 2010.

No speaking lessons for Monty. We want him as is!

"Inevitably looming over Monty's Ryder tenure is the spectre of 'Jakartagate' and the Indonesian Open of 2005."

John Huggan says Colin Montgomerie has the necessary qualities to make for a fine Ryder Cup captain but reminds us that most of his peers haven't forgiven him for Jakartagate.

Many of Monty's better qualities could hardly be more suited to his new job. For example, no one in European golf has ever been better at creating publicity, self-serving or otherwise. No doubt Terry Matthews, the Welsh/Canadian billionaire owner of Celtic Manor whose fortune has recently taken a significant hit, is already salivating at the prospect of a stream of banner headlines generated by our tartan hero.

All will not be sweetness and light, however. Inevitably looming over Monty's Ryder tenure is the spectre of 'Jakartagate' and the Indonesian Open of 2005. While the vast majority of the golfing public have made it quite clear they care not a jot whether or not the former world No.2 knowingly or merely carelessly replaced his ball in a disgracefully favourable spot on that fateful bank almost four years ago, the same cannot be said for too many of Monty's fellow tour players.

Even now, this will be an issue within the team room, albeit likely an unspoken one. Only the other evening in Abu Dhabi a veteran member of the European Tour talked privately of how he has "lost all respect" for Monty. And he is far from alone in feeling that way. The 2010 side will likely contain a number of those who cannot forget what happened and view Monty only through narrowed and suspicious eyes.

Mark Reason shares this anecdote about Monday's committee meeting.

A consensus emerged at last week's Ryder Cup selection meeting that Nick Faldo had been too old and too out of touch at the last Ryder Cup – so no more 50-year-old captains. That made Colin Montgomerie too old for Gleneagles in 2014. He was effectively told it was now or never.

Montgomerie accepted the candidacy at a tempestuous team meeting on Tuesday night. Halfway through the meeting he stormed out of the room. At the time we assumed his preferred candidate, Sandy Lyle, had been rejected. We now know that Monty had been pushed into a corner.

Spectators who have seen their young trampled underfoot as the great Montysaurus crashes about the golfing undergrowth, may be surprised to hear that the volcanic Scot has emerged as the favourite to captain the European Ryder Cup team in Wales next year. But away from the anguishes of the golf course, Colin Montgomerie can be funny, charming, self-deprecating and frequently very acute.

The image of Monty storming out is comical but hard to fathom since the committee did have to meet without him at some point (one would hope). However, I much prefer the vision of British writers camping outside the meeting room trying to interpret the mood of committee members exiting to take a whizz!

Monty's Rare Great Mood Confirms He Has The Ryder Cup Captaincy Locked Up For 2010

John Hopkins declares that Monty has the 2010 Ryder Cup captaincy because, after all, it's just common sense really...

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.

It must be difficult to type with that brown stuff blocking one's view of the laptop screen? Wait, what? You say there's more?

Blessedly, Paul Casey lays out where Monty's street cred lies with the 18-49 year olds:

“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.”

It does take a younger captain to know which European Tour go-fer will be best at ordering the proper ping pong table. Over 50s only know about things like shuffle board and where to get a really great massage in Madrid.

This wire story reported that Monty has not been offered the role, and he can't imagine why anyone would be betting on him!

"It hasn't changed to that degree. I don't know why there's betting. I don't look at the bets -- I'm not a betting man. I don't know where this has come from. I have no idea," Montgomerie said.

Okay, one denial was enough! One more denial and someone might get the wrong idea. Monty is, however, sure of one thing: over 50-somethings have no business being captain!  Though as Lawrence Donegan reports, Monty feels for Sandy Lyle, even though a decision has not been made yet.

Montgomerie has been a vocal supporter of his fellow Scot but today he seemed to concede his efforts had come to naught. "It would be a great shame if Sandy missed out, but in the end this is not my decision," he said. "I am just one voice on a committee of 15."

Monty does have Europe's most accomplished player on his side, as Mark Reason reports Padraig Harrington's glowing praise for the decision that has not been made yet.

But really, do any of these stories matter compared to the ugly business Donegan first revealed yesterday and writes about in more detail today. The betting! Don't worry, new Dubai resident and Euro Tour head man George O'Grady is on the case.

O'Grady was more forthcoming on Thursday after it appeared the potential candidates learned all they needed to know from the online betting exchanges. In the aftermath of Tuesday's meeting Montgomerie, who was a 50–1 shot last weekend, suddenly appeared on the ­Betfair market as an odds-on chance. "No decision has been taken so far," the tour's chief executive said. "We are aware of the movements in the various odds. We invite any gaming company to contact the European Tour with any evidence of betting irregularity. This will be fully investigated."

For its part, Betfair said last night it would be happy to cooperate with any sporting body which had concerns over gambling. "Uniquely, we have a full record of every market on our exchange. We know the identity of every person who has made a bet and exactly how much money is involved," said a spokesman, Tony Calvin, adding that before Tuesday's meeting the market on the 2010 Ryder Cup captaincy suggested a contest between Olazábal, Sandy Lyle and Ian Woosnam. "Clearly, someone has had a whisper that Mr Montgomerie was in the mix."

Let the investigation begin to determine who whispered that no decision has been made yet!

"After stroking a few putts along the bumpy practice chipping green, Monty strolled over to the white picket fence."

In reporting on Monty's sudden emergence as the likely 2010 European Ryder Cup captain, Derek Lawrenson asks:

Did his contemporaries persuade Monty that his time is now and that he will be too old at 51 in five years? Nobody is commenting publicly, but such a thought certainly chimes with the belief of several committee members, who emerged from the meeting to say that, after defeat at Valhalla last time, it is imperative to get the right man.

Funny, just the day before Monty mused about 50-somethings being too old to Captain. Now here I, a cynical blogger, merely thought it was another example of Monty speaking before thinking. But then I went back and read Mark Reason's original story where the Scot planted the over-50 seed.

After stroking a few putts along the bumpy practice chipping green, Monty strolled over to the white picket fence. Unlike many a pro sportsman he did not park his bum on the fence, but spoke at length, and with great sense, about the Ryder Cup.

Was our Monty using the media to lay the groundwork for his captaincy. My, he's clever!

Say It So: Even Money On Monty For 2010! **

Lawrence Donegan reports the stunning shift in online wagering that has overnight lifted Monty from 10-1 longshot to an even-money second favorite to captain the 2010 European Ryder Cup team.

My sources say that Monty, after ragging on the over-50 set and doing some math to realize he'll be 51 in 2014, started a Gordon Gekko-esque operation to drive up his online betting stock and at the same time, bring joy to bloggers on the westside of Los Angeles desperate for the great-Scot-in-his-own-mind to remain in the spotlight.

Donegan says it's something else. Sort of:

Like Olazábal, Montgomerie has been intent on playing his way on to the team but the fact is he is now 127th in the world rankings and showing no signs of recapturing the form that once made him an automatic choice for any Ryder Cup side. But if he is not the player he once was, he still the remains a significant figure on tour — popular with fans and, more important in these straighten financial times, popular with sponsors.

It has long been assumed the Scot would take on the Ryder Cup captaincy in 2014, when the event will be played in Scotland, but there is a mood within the players' committee after Nick Faldo's captaincy that the team needs a captain who competes regularly against, and is in touch with, potential team members.

Update on 2009-01-16 06:28 by Geoff

**Derek Lawrenson confirms that the bettors know what they're doing, suggesting that Monty-as-captain is a done deal, pending the ability to admit he's no longer competitive:

Monty and Ollie should be the next two captains and it is not beyond the bounds of possibility that there could be a double announcement when the skipper is named in Dubai in a fortnight - with the former pencilled in for Celtic Manor and the Spaniard appointed for America in 2012.
'Expect something innovative,' said one committee member, mischievously. Naming both might come with the intriguing bonus that the names could be flipped should either start playing well when the race to make the team begins in September.

That's not innovative. That's massaging bloated egos and telling the world how little they think of Sandy Lyle or Paul McGinley.

Euro Committee Decides That They Better Not Look Indecisive **

First reported to be putting their decision off until May, the committee charged with selecting the next Euro Ryder Cup Captain decided that they might look indecisive if they didn't decide on a captain by the end of this month. Or so Mike Aitken reports:

It was originally believed that if the committee could not reach an agreement this week then the issue would go into cold storage and not be settled until their next scheduled meeting at the Irish Open in May.

While the committee were not prepared to rush their deliberations, it now seems they've listened to concerns that waiting until the spring would make the Tour look indecisive and was not in Europe's best interests.

The players' willingness to choose Europe's next captain this month rather than in May also eliminates charges of favouritism and the possibility of anyone being branded a "second choice" captain.

That means you Sandy!

Update on 2009-01-14 16:43 by Geoff

**James Corrigan reports that Jose Maria has been offered the job and has two weeks to make up his mind.

Mark Reason breaks down the various political issues that led to a "heated" meeting. Sounds like a bad time was had by all!

Euro Ryder Cup Committee Hopes A Few More Months Of Missed Cuts Will Convince Ollie to Reconsider

John Hopkins reports that the committee selecting Europe's 2010 Ryder Cup captain has postponed their decision, giving the British press until May to dig up every conceivable anonymous quote against Sandy Lyle.

Chief of these is that some of the 15-man committee want José María Olazábal, Nick Faldo’s vice-captain at Valhalla in Louisville last September, to be captain. However, Olazábal, 42, is reluctant to accept the challenge, preferring first to recover from the rheumatism and fatigue that disrupted his season in 2008 and then to assess whether he has a chance of making what would be his eighth appearance in the biennial event.

Meanwhile Lawrence Donegan considers the political situation influencing who might be selected, with this on Olazábal and Lyle.

However, if he plays well enough to be in contention for a place on the team, then the focus will shift back to Lyle, who remains the only member of European golf's "big five" from the 1990s (Seve Ballesteros, Faldo, Woosnam and Bernhard Langer being the others) who has not had the honour and the commercial windfall of the Ryder Cup captaincy. "I think it would be a terrible shame if he wasn't given the job," one well-placed member of the European Tour hierarchy said today. "With the right people around to support him he would be fine as a captain."

Boy, there's a ringing endorsement.

Lyle Selects His Running Mate!

An unbylined Guardian story reports that Sandy Lyle is signaling his desire to be named 2010 Ryder Cup captain next week by signing up Bernhard Langer as an assistant. And in a depature from the 2008 debacle hierarchical structure, Lyle insists he will have a stable of assistants to help him correctly pronounce all team member names and to talk him out of backloading his singles lineup.

"We had four assistants in 2006 at the K Club, I was part of the four so I know that system works," he said. "You need to be in contact with the team at all times. Having a good back-up team is so important, not just when the tournament starts but in the breakfast room, the locker-room before players tee off. It's vital to have someone who's been there, done that, in the Ryder Cup."