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Colin Montgomerie unfazed by US resurgence ahead of Ryder Cup

Posted on April 14, 2010 by godadnet

• Captain shrugs off impressive form of top US players
• Only eight Europeans made the cut in Augusta

Ryder Cup captain Colin Montgomerie has shrugged off any concerns over a dip in form of Europe’s leading players, with only Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter competing against an American resurgence six months ahead of October’s Celtic Manor showdown.

The European No1 Westwood, who finished second at last week’s Masters, and the WGC-Accenture Match Play winner Poulter have been identified by America’s captain, Corey Pavin, as Montgomerie’s key to European success in Wales.

But with Phil Mickelson claiming a third green jacket from Westwood at Augusta and the world No1, Tiger Woods, impressively finishing tied for fourth following his five-month exile, the momentum has swung America’s way with only eight European players making the cut.

Europe had gathered pace at the start of the year leading up to Poulter’s Accenture success, but at the Masters Sergio Garcia finished well down the field while Luke Donald, Soren Hansen, Rory McIlroy, Henrik Stenson, Paul Casey, Padraig Harrington, Graeme McDowell and Martin Kaymer missed the cut.

“I think I just have to ride the wave and hope they peak at the right time,” said Montgomerie, a five-time Ryder Cup winner as a player.

“We did have a peak around the World Match Play time which was super for European golf, but I must admit only two in Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood played well and honoured their ranking at Augusta. The rest of the European team didn’t perform the way they would have expected; a number of the top players weren’t even playing at the weekend.

“But that’s not too much of a worry for me at this stage in April, but at the same time, I would like them to perform a little bit better come the US Open in June.”

Miguel Ángel Jiménez in a share of 12th just missed out on joining Westwood and Poulter inside the top 10 at Augusta, while Francesco Molinari and Soren Kjeldsen, who were tied for a share of 30th, represented Europe’s next best result.

Kaymer has already won this year in Abu Dhabi, but a downbeat McIlroy has even admitted he may take a break to rest a niggling back injury and rediscover his game, while Garcia and Stenson have long struggled for genuine consistency.

Montgomerie paid tribute to the rejuvenated Americans.

“All credit to Phil Mickelson. To go out in the last group and not make a bogey on a golf course which is so difficult is tremendous golf and you just shake his hand and say well played. It’s also super Tiger Woods has come back, it’s great for golf. It’s great to see him back and contending in the way he wished he would so lets hope he comes back full-time as soon as possible.”

  • Colin Montgomerie
  • Ryder Cup
  • Golf

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