Colin Montgomerie no longer interested in 2014 captaincy

Published on Monday 21 February 2011 15:37

COLIN Montgomerie has ruled himself of the running for a second stint as Ryder Cup captain at Gleneagles in 2014 and said he believes Irishman Paul McGinley is the man for the job in Perthshire.

After leading Europe to victory at Celtic Manor last year, the Scot immediately said he didn't want to be considered for staying on as captain for the next match, at Medinah in 2012. Until now, however, he was still believed to be interested in the job at Gleneagles, particularly as he lives a few miles from there at Dunning.

"Having done it and won it, I think it's time to say that, whether I was asked or not for Gleneagles, I should leave it for someone else to do and go there as an ambassador or whatever," said Montgomerie.

"I think it's right that it (the captaincy) goes to someone under 50. It's a benefit to be a current player on the Tour and playing with the team. I would be 51 at Gleneagles and that would be slightly out of the playing set. I would say 'no'. I wouldn't do it again. I wouldn't put myself through it."

As for who he thinks should be the captain at Gleneagles, Montgomerie believes one of his assistants at Celtic Manor has all the credentials for the job. He said: "I have to say one name as captain in 2014, Paul McGinley. I put him and (Thomas] Bjorn in as captains at the Vivendi Trophy and they came out with flying colours. He was also excellent at the Ryder Cup."

Regarding hopes of a Scot being on that team, Montgomerie, who was speaking as he received a lifetime achievement award along with Paul Lawrie at the XOS Scottish Golf Dinner in Glasgow, added: "We don't want the same situation we had at Celtic Manor. We've not had a Scot since I played in 2006 and we want at least one.

"We have potential out there on Tour and I just hope it is realised. I think it's going to happen and we just have to be patient. That's a definite goal."

Jose Maria Olazabal will be in charge when Europe defend the trophy in Illinois, where the Spaniard will take two wild cards after reducing the number Montgomerie had at his disposal in Wales.

"He didn't discuss the reduction with me," revealed last year's captain. "He has a view that two picks are enough. I wanted more than three. Let's hope he doesn't have the difficult decision I had and that it's cut and dried."