Montgomerie hints Ryder Cup blame lies with captain Faldo

Published on Thursday 25 September 2008 00:13

HE COULD have kept his thoughts to himself, he could have shared them only with other players, he could have waited. But Colin Montgomerie went public with his views on the Ryder Cup yesterday – and Nick Faldo came out of it very badly.

Yards from the final green at The Belfry where once they were hugging each other as cup partners – the Quinn Insurance British Masters starts on the course today – Montgomerie smiled when the subject of Faldo's captaincy inevitably came up at a pre-tournament press conference.

And then the words started flowing from the man who after not being given a wild card was an armchair critic for the first time since 1989.

"Certain things would have been done the same and certain things I feel I would have liked to have changed," said the former cup hero, who revealed that he makes notes every two years in readiness for what is expected to be his leadership of the side at Gleneagles in 2014.

Asked then if he felt as much for the captain as for the players, Montgomerie replied: "Goodness me – oh dear.

"I feel for the players, I do, because I see them and I'm with them. I know what they have gone through and exactly how they feel coming home.

"To answer your question – I can't answer that question." Next it was how much he felt Faldo was responsible for the defeat and whether he got the best out of the team.

"Going as favourites – proper favourites – and to lose 16-11 it's very difficult for me to say.

"I know from hearing from some of the guys and some of what went on that possibly, possibly not.

"The line-up of the singles was very important being 9-7 down. Very important. It had to be absolutely bang-on right."

Faldo gambled by putting top scorer Ian Poulter, most experienced player Lee Westwood and Open and PGA champion Padraig Harrington in the last three positions.

They became irrelevant to the outcome of the match because the Americans started the session so well and had victory in the bag with four games (Graeme McDowell was involved in the other) still out on the course.

"It occurred to me that unfortunately Poulter and Westwood and Harrington are possibly our three strongest players and they might not – might, but might not – be included in the final shake-up," added Montgomerie.

"If they had been playing higher up they absolutely would have been included in the shake-up of what happened."

Montgomerie in the team meeting could have had the presence of mind to remind everyone else of the 2002 match at The Belfry when Tiger Woods was out last for the Americans and was still playing when Europe were celebrating. "Number 12 (deciding the issue] has happened once in the whole history of the Ryder Cup since 1927," said Montgomerie.

"Once in the whole history of the Ryder Cup has number 12 ever mattered and it was (Bernhard] Langer in 1991 against Hale Irwin. That's the only time that number 12 has mattered."

Actually, that is the only time since Europe started taking on the Americans where that was the case. Everything also hung, of course, on Tony Jacklin's halved match with Jack Nicklaus in 1969.