Monty To lead Europe in 2010

[Neil]

Thoughts anyone.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/golf/7849800.stm

Personally I'm surprised. I think he still has it in him to play at Celtic Manor. By 2012 I think his playing days will have gone and he would then be a perfect captain either for the 2012 event in the US or 2014 which will be in Scotland.

I'd have liked to see Sandy Lyle get his shot at captaincy - looks like that will never happen now.

[I <3 Titleist]

Meh. Drama queen.

I hope the US goes out and rocks em again next year.


On another note, I don't think players who have multiple houses in many of the golf meccas in the US (Palm Springs, Arizona, Dallas, Orlando, etc) and who live here should be allowed to play for Europe simply cause they still have a slight british accent. Bollocks to that, m8.

[uttexas]

Monty has similar personality to Faldo. I would prefer to see Lyle. He was once a great competitor with excellent body language (the type of leader a Ryder Cup Captain needs) Monty's body language is not exactly inspirational (see Faldo's results) The captain with the best leadership qualities has been victorious over the last ten years or so (before that, the Euros hardly had a chance) Now that the quality of players has improved (I would say about even), the captaincy pick is huge.

[Neil]

Monty has similar personality to Faldo. I would prefer to see Lyle. He was once a great competitor with excellent body language (the type of leader a Ryder Cup Captain needs) Monty's body language is not exactly inspirational (see Faldo's results) The captain with the best leadership qualities has been victorious over the last ten years or so (before that, the Euros hardly had a chance) Now that the quality of players has improved (I would say about even), the captaincy pick is huge.

I agree his body language is often terrible - if he is struggling in a tournament everyone knows about it and his attitude can be very poor.

However, I think he has the temperament and character to lead the team. He has certainly been able to lead by example while playing in the Ryder Cup over the years and displayed a never say die attitude which could be important. (Remember him coming back from dormie 5 in the singles at Kiawah Island?) I just feel it is too early for him, he should focus on playing his way into the team as Kenny Perry did last year.

[Dub]

I've always enjoyed watching Monty play. I know that his perfromances in the States haven't been what he's wanted. There is a certain amount of all of our desires expressed in his struggles.

I've always enjoyed his swing.

His comments and views are interesting and sometimes entertaining.....scolding the patrons over here at times. He is a spirited competitor.

Overall, I feel the he's contributed tons to the game. Order of Merit dominance....can't be diminished.

[uttexas]

Yes, all good points. I forgot for a second just how dominant Monty has been in the Ryder cup. I just can't forgive him for blowing up from the middle of the 18th fairway in that US open. Lyle is so likeable. We often forget just how good he was.

[MSDOGS1976]

How old is Monty? Early 40's? I would have rather had the job in Scotland if I were him.

[flanagan]

He'll be 46 this summer and it's not realistic to believe he would be able to play his way on over the course of the next two years.

I've liked him, he seems to put his foot in his mouth just often enough to bring him back to earth for awhile, and he usually owns up to it. I was pulling for him at the U.S. Open when he hit that lousy 7 iron, and you could just see the agony. Golf means something to him. He'll step in it enough to anger the press on both sides of the pond before its over, but it will be entertaining.

Frankly, the captains take too much blame for the losses and (ala Azinger) get too much credit for the wins. For example, Faldo's stars played like dogs, and it's his fault? Not.

And, I don't really like the trend of intentionally whipping up fan frenzy, as has been preached and practiced in the last two cups. It's not football, our definition or theirs. In the long run, I think it's bad for the game. The Ryder cup doesn't need to be 18 holes of one hole of the FBR.

I'm a little disappointed some of the sportsmanship issues that get highlighted seem to reflect badly on the U.S. and are almost crowd mentality induced. It would be nice to see it be more of what it was and less of what it has become, but the PGA would be scared no one would watch.

[RemyM]

Great, even more incentive to kick Europe's butt. Can't stand the whiner, lost all respect for him when he cheated in that tournament where he and Langer ended up tied. He grounded his putter and the ball moved but he wouldn't admit it and take the penalty stroke and the European Tour officials were too wimpy to give it to him.

[jorruss]

Monty is certainly a polarizing figure, as Faldo has been on and off. But like him or not, he possesses one of the best Ryder Cup records in history.

I think he'll be a good captain, but the British media will rip him mercilessly if he loses. I think he should name Ian Woosnam as an assistant, since the matches are in his backyard in Wales and the course he endorses on the EPGA.

[flanagan]

The rules flap was a disappointment, and that has clouded my judgment of him a bit, it was hard to believe that leaving the course knowing he had an awkward stance he could play the shot the next day without the same awkward stance and not really believe he hadn't knowingly taken a better ball position. I'm obviously no pro, but I'd sure remember where I'd been standing if I had a foot in or on the edge of a bunker, whether I marked my ball or not. Have read a lot of accounts, but never actually been able to find the video/photos, assume there are none out there.

[JaY_B]

The rules flap was a disappointment, and that has clouded my judgment of him a bit, it was hard to believe that leaving the course knowing he had an awkward stance he could play the shot the next day without the same awkward stance and not really believe he hadn't knowingly taken a better ball position. I'm obviously no pro, but I'd sure remember where I'd been standing if I had a foot in or on the edge of a bunker, whether I marked my ball or not. Have read a lot of accounts, but never actually been able to find the video/photos, assume there are none out there.

In fairness to him, Monty pleaded innocence but donated all earnings from that particular tournament to charity in an effort to remove the tension, at most this was a case of using the rules to his advantage, and not a case of blatant cheating, IMO.

[flanagan]

He used the rules, but not in a way I would endorse. By suggesting to his playing companions he didn't remember where is ball had been (and remember he just left it there, instead of marking) and getting a consensus from a couple of players that said they really didn't know where it was, he basically put it where he wanted. The charity donation came about 2 weeks later because the furor had not died down and the tour players committee, of which he was a member, took him to task publicly. He said it was unintentional and I believe golfers should be taken at their word in those situations on the course. The problem comes later when it is confirmed he went from a stance partially in the bunker to one completely outside. Having taken the stance, I just don't believe I would forget that overnight. It's possible he forgot, I just doubt very much anyone would.

Funny, when in later years, of many, in college, playing one summer with some friends, one guy had pushed way right into some tall dead grass on a hill. We were all over helping him find the ball, and I look over and he, without knowing I saw him, casually dropped one out of his pocket and said, "I found it." I just ignored it, but I never looked at him the same way after -- he ended up working for an intelligence agency after grad school, make of that what you will. Anyway, I always have Monty's incident in the back of my mind when I think of Monty, even though I do enjoy him.

[Golfgal]

I wondered what everyone would think about Monty being captain. I'm pretty happy about it. I wrote a blog post giving my top ten reasons why . I'd love your feedback. You'll come to realize I'm partial to kilts ;)