Montgomerie picks Darren Clarke as a Ryder Cup vice-captain
Published:Colin Montgomerie has named Northern Ireland’s Darren Clarke as one of three vice-captains for the European Ryder Cup team to face the United States.
The Scot, who will lead out the European team come October, has also selected experienced Ryder Cup players Paul McGinley and Thomas Bjorn as assistants alongside Clarke.
The strong backroom line-up chosen by Montgomerie has bags of tournament knowledge to pass on to this year’s 12, making a victory for Europe, at 8/13, all the more likely.
That price has come in since The Open, in which Europeans out-shone the Americans, with the US now a 13/8 chance to retain the Ryder Cup at the Celtic Manor golf course.
Corey Pavin, the USA captain, has also announced his vice-captains for the event, which takes place between October 1st and 3rd.
Tom Lehman, Jeff Sluman, Davis Love and Paul Goydos will provide much-needed back-up in both a tactical and practical sense.
Montgomerie said the relationships between captains and players would be crucial. “The four of us up here have huge respect from the players that will be in the team and that is vital,” he stated.
Clarke actually had a decent run at The Open at St Andrews over the weekend, finishing in tied-44th, and has been involved in five Ryder Cups, winning four.
Lehman showed he still has the fight for top-tier competition at The Open too, ending on four under for a share of 14th.
Lehman captained the USA side unsuccessfully in 2006, losing to a team that included Clarke, McGinley and Montgomerie as players.
Jose Maria Olazabal has not been named as a member of Montgomerie’s staff, with the Spaniard struggling with rheumatism – although he could still take on the captaincy in Chicago in 2012.
There has only been one draw between these two sides since the Ryder Cup started being Europe vs USA. Another one this year is a 10/1 chance. See the full Ryder Cup betting market.
