Golf: Monty ups his talented team

COLIN MONTGOMERIE reclaimed the Royal Trophy by leading Europe to victory over Asia and then focused his attention on assessing potential picks for the Ryder Cup.

Swede Henrik Stenson kept his cool to make par from six feet to halve his match and secure an 8-7 win for Europe over Asia at Amata Spring Country Club .

And Montgomerie said afterwards: "I just happen to be leading this particularly fantastic group of young talent coming into the Ryder Cup.

"There are a number of great, talented golfers in Europe and for the first time I really feel that we have a fantastic wealth of talent and we have just witnessed that this week."

The Scot, standing in for Seve Ballesteros as the Spaniard continues his recovery from brain surgery, assembled a team consisting of youth and experience for the tournament as they bounced back from last year's 10-6 defeat to Asia.

Montgomerie added: "It was an honour to captain the team. We came here with a strong team and it was very, very close."