Montgomerie Leads the Chase for Europe in Ryder Cup(part two)
In eight Cups, Montgomerie has won 23.5 points for Europe
, 1.5 short of Faldo's record. He is 8-3-3 in foursomes, 6-6-2 in four-ball sessions and most proudly unbeaten in singles, with six victories and two halves, which is golf vernacular for ties.
(
wholesale golf clubs )
Would losing this Cup as captain tarnish all that in any way?
"Not at all, not at all," Montgomerie said, setting up his next wisecrack. "I'll still hold the record of not having lost a singles match."
As in many sports, there is no guarantee that brilliant players will make brilliant leaders. See Faldo, who bombed as Europe's captain and speechmaker in chief at the last Ryder Cup, in 2008 at the Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Ky., where he declined to use one of his wild-card picks on Montgomerie.
This seems the right time to reiterate that being a Ryder Cup captain is hardly the same psychological and tactical challenge as, say, coaching a national soccer team or even a college golf team, like the one that Montgomerie played on for four years at Houston Baptist University in the 1980s.
The Ryder Cup is, despite all the biennial hullabaloo, a mere three-day test in which the players are often just as experienced and savvy as their captain.
(
cheap golf clubs )
But there are tough choices to be made. Montgomerie already had to leave Paul Casey, No. 7 in the world rankings this week, off his team, as well as Justin Rose. And the communications load can be heavy, which has never been much of a problem for Montgomerie. He is doubly expressive, with a face that reflects every inner doom cloud or sunbeam and with a voice that specializes in colorful paragraphs instead of monochrome sentences.
"It would be a bloody boring life if everyone was perfect, for God's sake," he once said. "We need personalities, and I suppose I'm seen as one of them."
He is indeed. Endearing to some, intensely irritating to others, he is an uncommon, sour-and-sweet brew of impetuosity and intelligence, of huff and subtle humor, of self-importance and self-deprecation.
"Corey has not hit a golf shot for a month; I haven't hit a golf shot for about two years," he said this week, poking fun at his own poor playing record, which has seen him fall to 424th in the world rankings.
But then the contradictions go way back. How could someone so volcanic, someone capable of taking great offense at a lone heckler or camera click, have idolized the icy, hyperfocused Swedish tennis champion Bjorn Borg as a child instead of John McEnroe?
The risk, of course, for a Ryder Cup captain is becoming a distraction, something that Montgomerie is perfectly capable of and has already flirted with by speaking openly about the consequences of Tiger Woods's personal problems. This seemed a strange move considering the stormy, expensive end to Montgomerie's own first marriage as well as his more recent decision to reportedly seek an injunction from a British court in July to prevent a tabloid newspaper from publishing an article about his private life.
(
wholesale golf clubs )
"I know a lot of you are having a lot of fun right now at my expense," he told reporters at the P.G.A. Championship last month. "I apologize for this, that you have to bring this up, but at the same time no further comments from myself on that matter."
Nor should there be further comments on the matter at Celtic Manor, where Montgomerie is well aware that he has a big opportunity to resume playing the Ryder Cup talisman after having had no part in the 2008 loss to the United States.
He had not initially planned to be the captain here. Though it has been a long-term goal, he focused publicly at least on taking the job for the 2014 Cup at Gleneagles in his native Scotland. But the manner of the lopsided defeat at Valhalla accelerated the timetable for Montgomerie and European tour officials and players whose circuit continues to depend heavily on Ryder Cup success and visibility.
"I'm honored, hugely honored," Montgomerie said of his selection as the team captain. "But at the same time, I have a huge responsibility as well."
Still, there is clearly more upside to being the captain who wins back the Ryder Cup than to being the captain who fails to retain it. Yet whatever happens on the rolling and probably soggy course at Celtic Manor, Montgomerie plans to abandon his golf cart and try to make the next team.
"Biggest event in my golfing career, and I've come here with no clubs," Montgomerie said this week. "Quite weird, really."
Montgomerie Leads the Chase for Europe in Ryder Cup(part two)
By: manning
Europe finishes day with 9½-6½ lead Europe's Ross Fisher and his caddy The Literature on the Multiplication of Eastern Europe's Europe: Material Changes and Geographical Imaginaries McDowell Seals Ryder Cup for Europe(part one) McDowell Seals Ryder Cup for Europe(part two) Stari Grad, One of the Oldest Towns in Europe Deadly Driving in Eastern Europe Asia VS Europe Latvia - One More Place To Visit In Europe Mergers and Acquisitions in Europe Asia took a 2 to 1 lead over Europe Top European Train Journeys