Ryder pointer as Monty praises Harrington resolve

RYDER CUP captain Colin Montgomerie yesterday spoke of his admiration for wild card wannabe Pádraig Harrington ahead of tomorrow evening’s European team announcement.

Harrington, who is relying on a captain’s pick to face the Americans at Celtic Manor in October, produced a second round 68 that fired him to five under par at the Barclays Championship in New Jersey.

Montgomerie, informed of Harrington’s score shortly after missing the cut at the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles, praised the Dubliner’s resolve.

Monty said: “It makes the job tougher in many ways and easier in others so we’ll just have to see.

“When his back has been to the wall, Pádraig has done awfully well in the past. All credit to him for showing some form when he had to. I was very interested in the way he reacted to taking six at the last to miss the USPGA cut by one.

“Within five minutes of signing his card, he was on the range.

“That says a lot about what he wants to do and wants to achieve.”

The Scot has never disguised his admiration for the three-time major winner as a golfer and person and this was the clearest signal yet that the Irishman will be one of his three picks at tomorrow evening’s press conference.

Paul Casey and Justin Rose, two others to spurn Gleneagles in favour of the American event, also impressed stateside yesterday. Both shot two under par rounds of 69 to stand four and one under respectively and ideally poised to make their presence felt over the weekend.

There are no Ryder Cup points on offer at the Barclays but Montgomerie says he will be closely monitoring developments in New Jersey. There are, of course, several other issues regarding the team to be resolved. Peter Hanson and Miguel-Angel Jimenez are under pressure from Simon Dyson and Alvaro Quiros for the last two automatic spots and it’s an issue that won’t be resolved until the end of the Gleneagles event.

At the halfway stage, the prospects are for the status quo to remain unchanged.

Hanson and Jimenez are both six under but they will be keeping a close eye on Dyson who is on the same mark. Quiros, though, is no better than one under and facing an uphill battle to make it.