Abu Dhabi : European Ryder Cup 2010 captain Colin Montgomerie, speaking yesterday on the sidelines of this week's Abu Dhabi Golf Championship, was full of praise for the strength of European golf, and the UAE capital event's depth of field, which includes eight of the world's top 14.
The ongoing championship boasts its strongest ever line-up, giving Montgomerie his first chance to see many of his potential picks in action after the winter break, including Paul Casey, Henrik Stenson, Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter, Sergio Garcia, Rory McIlroy and Martin Kaymer.
With five European players now in the world top 10, as well as a wealth of rising stars in the top 30, the Scot was relishing the challenge of making a winning Ryder Cup player selection.
Fantastic
"This is a fantastic championship. I love it here in Abu Dhabi as I feel it is the start of our season, and it is great that we have the strongest field ever assembled. For the first time, we have eight players in the world top 15. The strength I have to pick from is potentially extraordinary. I am not worried about their inexperience. They are playing against their American counterparts week in and week out.
"One of my difficulties will be that out of the 12 players, I will have to leave four out each session. This is the hard task," added Montgomerie, who has 31 European Tour titles under his belt.
When asked if he would be looking to utilise his home advantage in Wales this October, Montgomerie said he would certainly be looking at green speeds. "As home captain I have the advantage of talking to the head green keeper to determine pace of greens. I will ask my team what pace they want and set it that way. The Americans tend to favour a faster pace and we in Europe favour a slower one. That might be to our advantage," added the eight-time Order of Merit winner.
