Fresh off the news that he had gained entry to the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2013, Colin Montgomerie worried that Rory McIlroy and other European stars playing the PGA Tour could weaken their Ryder Cup defense in two years.
Colin Montgomerie: Europeans on PGA Tour could blunt Ryder Cup defense
Ross Kinnaird
With 10 of September’s winning Ryder Cup slate members of the 2013 U.S. tour, Captain Doubtfire, leader of the victorious 2010 Euro squad, whined that the European Tour must do something to stem the migration.
“It’s very difficult and we have to sit down and try to address this,” Montgomerie told the Daily Mail’s Mark Garrod. “It’s important for the future of European golf.”
Or maybe -- given Europe’s dominance in the past nine Ryder Cups -- it was all about Monty squeaking into the HoF with just 51 percent of the vote on the international ballot, despite never having won a PGA Tour event.
Whatever the motivation, European golfers are certainly opting in increasing numbers to play more PGA Tour events than those on Ryder Cup tracks across the Atlantic. Given the lopsided 7-2 edge the Euros have enjoyed since 1995, however, Montgomerie may be worrying needlessly.
In any case, the dour Scot was not happy about the trend.
“We need to get our team to Gleneagles [site of the ’14 matches]. We have to have that advantage,” Montgomerie pleaded. “In 1997 our biggest advantage was Valderrama. The Americans had three days to prepare, we had 10 years.”
