Monty welcomes return of Woods

EUROPEAN Ryder Cup captain Colin Montgomerie has welcomed Tiger Woods’ decision to return to golf at next month’s Masters.

The world number one confirmed on Tuesday his intention to compete at Augusta without playing a warm-up tournament.

“It is great to hear the news that Tiger has set a date for his return,” said Montgomerie yesterday .

“He has certainly been missed by the players and fans and I am sure everyone is looking forward to seeing him at The Masters.”

Woods, out of action since mid-November and in hiding most of that time after a string of affairs hit the headlines, decided not to make his comeback at next week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational.

Montgomerie will be at Bay Hill, though, for only his second start in America since he was named as cup captain in January last year.

Woods currently occupies the eighth and last automatic qualifying place in the United States points table.

There is bound to be endless speculation about whether he will make himself available for the match at Celtic Manor on October 1-3.

He has never shown a great fondness for the match, could face heckling, has been on just one winning team in five appearances and the Americans, of course, triumphed while he was out injured two years ago.

Montgomerie’s opposite number Corey Pavin has already made it clear, however, he wants the world number one in his line-up.

“If there’s anybody on this planet that can handle any situation on the golf course, it would be Tiger Woods,” he said.

“He is as mentally tough as anybody I’ve ever seen in my life and I don’t expect for there to be any problems any way.

“He’s the best player in the world and I want to have him on the team.”

Montgomerie and Woods have had some fascinating battles over the years.

Their most memorable clash was at the 1997 Masters when they were first and second at halfway.

Montgomerie aired the thought that his experience could be a key factor, but then was thrashed 65-74 and was so shell-shocked he finished with an 81.

Woods, on the other hands, went on to win by 12 and become at 21 the youngest Masters champion ever.

They finished first and second in the 2005 Open at St Andrews, Woods winning by five, but five duels at the Ryder Cup in either foursomes or fourballs ended 3-2 to Montgomerie. They never met in singles.

Next month’s Masters will not have Jose Maria Olazabal in action.

Champion at Augusta in 1994 and 1999 – he was Europe’s last winner there – the 44-year-old Spanish star is again suffering from rheumatism and his manager Sergio Gomez said yesterday that he will be pulling out of the tournament this week.

“He has pain in his shoulder, forearms and hands. He can’t swing properly, so we won’t be going,” said Gomez.

“He is practicing a little bit, but for not much more than an hour. If new miracle remedies help then he will be back, but traditional medicine is failing.”

Olazabal, the favourite to succeed Colin Montgomerie as Ryder Cup captain, has not played a tournament since finishing 14th at the Castellon Masters last October.

It will be the first Masters he has missed since 1996 when he spent the whole season on the sidelines after being diagnosed with rheumatoid polyarthritis.

There were fears that his future would be in a wheelchair at that stage, but the man who with Seve Ballesteros formed the most successful partnership in the Ryder Cup history – only two defeats in 15 games together – came back for an emotional second victory at Augusta three years later.

Only four years ago Olazabal finished joint third there and was also part of the winning Ryder Cup team, his first appearance in the match since 1999, but he was able to play only seven European Tour events the following season and six in 2008.

Last year appeared more promising as he upped his tournaments to 16, only for the situation to worsen again over the winter.

Olazabal was inducted into golf’s Hall of Fame in Florida in November and a month later was close to tears again when he made a lifetime achievement award to Ballesteros – fighting his own battle with a brain tumour, of course – for the BBC Sports Personality of the Year programme.