Olly’s our man for Medinah, says Monty
COLIN MONTGOMERIE has given Jose Maria Olazabal the ultimate accolade in his bid to succeed him as European Ryder Cup captain, insisting: ‘I’m sure he’ll do a better job than me”.
The Scot stood down as skipper after leading the side to a thrilling 14-13 victory over the Americans at Celtic Manor on Monday.
Now Olazabal, who was drafted in at the last minute to fill in as one of Monty’s vice-captains, is favourite to take the team to Medinah in 2010 – provided he recovers sufficiently from the rheumatism from which he has been suffering.
“I would love to do it,” said the Spaniard, who has played in seven Ryder Cups and vice-captained in the last two. “It all depends on my physical situation, but it’s much better than it was a few months ago.”
Montgomerie said: “I hope Jose Maria will be well enough to be the next captain. It was between him and me for the captaincy this time and in two years’ time he’ll be 46, just a year younger than I am now. The passion he brings to any team room means he’s everybody’s choice to retain this trophy. We played many Ryder Cups together and I’m sure he’ll do as good a job – if not better – than I did.”
Monty’s sentiments have been endorsed by several players, including new world No2 Lee Westwood. “I think it’s time Jose had a go,” he added. “He’d make a fantastic captain, he’s very inspirational and gets everybody on-side.”