Montgomerie hints at placing McDowell and McIlroy together
Published:Graeme McDowell has expressed his desire to play with good friend Rory McIlroy in the fourballs and foursomes at Celtic Manor next week.
The pairing seems an obvious choice for European captain Colin Montgomerie as the two have a very close bond away from golf and are likely to be the source of any banter in the European changing room.
McDowell revealed that he has received a few texts from Monty suggesting that he will play with McIlroy, and the Ulsterman also believes there are a few other obvious pairings in the European side.
McDowell suggests the Molinari brothers, Edoardo and Francesco, plus Ross Fisher and Ian Poulter are obvious choices, but he wonders whether Monty will go for the obvious or beyond the obvious in his quest to win the Ryder Cup on home soil – Europe are 8/13 to beat the US team.
“I fully expect to get at least one game with Rory,” said McDowell, “I’ll be disappointed if I don’t.”
“I think we’ve got a great team and we should be able to get the job done.
“But the Americans are strong and they’ll be up for it as well.”
The US team are the underdogs at 13/8 going into the tournament despite winning at Valhalla in 2008.
McDowell made his Ryder Cup debut in that tournament, notching up 2½ points from his four matches with a singles win and a fourball win with Ian Poulter.
The man from Northern Ireland is 6/1 to be the top European points scorer and 14/1 to be the top point scorer in the competition.
Poulter saves his best golf for the Ryder Cup and is 7/1 to be top European points scorer. See the full the 2010 Ryder Cup betting odds market here.
