"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!