Players full of praise as Monty bows out on high

PÁDRAIG HARRINGTON admitted “it’s very bitter when you don’t win your singles” but took considerable consolation that no matter what he did himself, it might not have been enough to beat an inspired Zach Johnson, who had thrown no fewer than seven birdies at him.

Having thought about it a little further, he agreed the outcome of his match was “immaterial” because Europe had regained the Ryder Cup.

It was his sixth appearance in the match and his fourth time on a successful side. He won and lost two points and his experience on the golf course in partnership with Ross Fisher on Saturday and Sunday proved invaluable, as was his contribution in the team room.

And it wasn’t because he owed his place in the team to a “wild card” pick from Colin Montgomerie that he paid a huge compliment to his captain.

“Colin keeps saying it’s all about the team and that’s what he had us thinking”, said Harrington. “We all knew how much it meant to Monty. Having done so well as a player, it’s only fitting now that he should win it as a captain. But, you know, at the end of the day, things don’t always work out like that. You’re not automatically guaranteed to be a winning captain just because you’re a winning player.

“I think we were all aware this was the only opportunity he would get to cap off an unbelievable Ryder Cup career and we didn’t want to let him down. As much as he didn’t play on that, it was very obvious to the team members he deserved it. We wanted to guarantee his captaincy would do his playing career justice. And it did. Well done, Monty.”

Montgomerie duly stressed he would not do the job again.

“This is a one-hit time,” he declared. “I am delighted Europe have won the trophy and I won’t be doing this again. I can assure you of that. We have four fantastic vice-captains plus Jose-Maria Olazabal and one of those five, I am sure, will be your next European Ryder Cup captain who will, hopefully, defend the Ryder Cup at Medinah in 2012.”

How Monty would have reacted had the Americans successfully pulled off a dramatic final day recovery is anyone’s guess. In victory, though, he couldn’t have been more gracious and must have been very pleased to receive so many plaudits from his players.

“I think he brought really an education to the job,” commented Lee Westwood. “He educated everybody in what was going to happen, how it was going to happen, when it was going to happen, how he wanted it all to pan out. That’s all really that a captain can do. Obviously, he puts his pairings out and he thought deeply about those and his singles line-up which I thought he got pretty much spot-on.”

Westwood also admitted he “hated” watching Graeme McDowell playing those final crucial holes and wondered how “wives and families can do it because it’s outside of everyone’s control except the player.”

Montgomerie agreed, pointing out “I somehow felt out of control all week as captain, not being able to hit the shots. This is the first Ryder Cup I have attended that I have not actually played and it’s very difficult to play every shot over that radio. I played every shot out there in every game. And that’s why it’s a one-hit job, it’s time to go now. But it’s the proudest moment to captain these fantastic players.”