Captain Monty’s smiling with Euro six-shooters
ONLY one smile would have beamed broader than that of Martin Kaymer after the German cruised to a third title of the season at the KLM Open – Colin Montgomerie’s.
Since Ross Fisher won at the Irish Open on 1 August, Monty’s 12-man team for the Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor in a little over a fortnight’s time, have won six of the last seven European Tour events.
Kaymer (twice), Peter Hanson, Edoardo Molinari and Miguel Angel Jimenez have all come out on top – the only blot being the WGC-Bridgestone at Akron, won by Hunter Mahan.
Kaymer’s win in the Netherlands not only continues the run, but also looks to have all but sewn up the Race to Dubai.
With a cheque for €300,000, the German is now almost €500,000 ahead of his nearest rival, Graeme McDowell, at the top of the standings.
Monty’s only slight worry now is whether he did the right thing in omitting Paul Casey from his Ryder Cup squad. Casey rallied to a second-place finish at the BMW International in Chicago on Sunday night – losing out to Dustin Johnson by a shot.
That result saw Casey climb 16 places to fifth in the FedEx standings, while Tiger Woods failed to qualify for next week’s season-ending Tour Championship after missing out on a place in the top 30.
Monty will be aware that a wounded Tiger could spell danger for Europe at Celtic Manor.