Montgomerie drops Langer Ryder Cup hint

AS if Colin Montgomerie didn’t appear to have an embarrassment of European talent at his disposal heading into Celtic Manor this October, the Ryder Cup captain has thrown another name into the ring for consideration.

Pádraig Harrington, Justin Rose, Paul Casey and Martin Kaymer currently lead the group in the running for the European captain’s three picks, choices Montgomerie will make on August 29 at the conclusion of the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles in Scotland, when the nine automatic qualifiers for the team will be finalised.

Yet Montgomerie has admitted that his former team-mate and captain Bernhard Langer was a serious contender for a wild-card selection following his impressive back-to-back Major wins on the seniors circuit last month.

The German, a 10-time Ryder Cup team member and five-time winner between 1981 and 2002, who skippered Montgomerie and company to 2004 victory at Oakland Hills near Detroit, won the Senior British Open at Carnoustie in Scotland and then flew to the American west coast to add the US Senior Open title to his victories list.

That has been enough to inform Montgomerie, that Langer can still be a force in the Ryder Cup at the age of 53.

“I would not rule out picking Bernhard,” the Scot said. “It wouldn’t be such an out-of-the-blue pick. I think he’s playing as well as he ever has and he’s said he is.”

One player who looks to have ruled himself out of contention is Spaniard Sergio Garcia, a talismanic presence in previous Ryder Cup European team rooms who has been struggling with his game in recent months.

Garcia takes a two-month break from the game after this week’s US PGA Championship, making a wild-card selection extremely unlikely given the calibre of player still actively pursuing a captain’s pick.