No More Monty Magic?
This week, one of Europe’s best ever Ryder Cup players, Colin Montgomerie was named as the incoming captain for the matches in Celtic Manor 2010. Often cited for his failure thus far, to win a major championship, Monty has been Europe’s leader in the Ryder Cups over the past two decades.
Colin has been a member of the European team on 8 occasions and has never lost in a singles match. He holds a win-lose-draw record of 20-9-7, thus giving him a total points scored tally of 23.5, only 1.5 points behind the all time record held by Nick Faldo. I was not surprised therefore that Monty was not picked by Faldo for the last Ryder Cup…Faldo is a self-serving, obnoxious individual and in my opinion, loosing his record as all time European points leader to Monty was not an option.
But now the time has come for Monty to stand down and lead the troops into battle and regain the Ryder Cup. I have no doubts he will be a great captain as he has the charisma and will to win. He is a born champion and the players will want to win for him. However, I believe he is relinquishing his status as a player too early. True, by 2010, he may be struggling to find form but I would wait until the last minute before deciding. Europe missed his presence this year. As as gritty as individuals as Harrington and Westwood are, they are not inspirational figures like Monty.
Im going to miss watching Monty in the Ryder Cup. Although sometimes cranky and sulky, he was extremely proud and his determination when he represented Europe was fantastic to watch. The likes of Tiger Woods could learn from Montys Ryder Cup style. Best of luck now to him as captain. I am sure he will do the position proud and bring the cup back to Europe…where it belongs!
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