Montgomerie seeks inspiration from Ballesteros, McIlroy is rattled
Colin Montgomerie has revealed that yesterday, the whole team received an inspirational phone call from former Ryder Cup captain and golfing legend Seve Ballesteros.
At a press conference at Celtic Manor earlier this afternoon, the European Ryder Cup captain told reporters: "Last night we invited some past captains into our team room, Sam Torrance and Ian Woosnam, as well as [cricket legend] Ian Botham. And we had a fantastic motivational speech by Gareth Edwards, Wales’ most famous sportsman of all time.
"Before that, though, the whole team spoke to Seve for about 10 minutes, that was very motivational, very passionate, and also very sad to hear him, and to hear the way he is [Ballesteros is still recovering from brain surgery]. He just wishes he could be here, obviously he was invited, but he couldn't make it.
“But still the passion is very strong within Seve. That was a real inspiration for the rookies. We had a team meeting afterwards, very different because of the passion that engulfed that room. I was one of the few who played with Seve in the Ryder Cup, and he captained me on my fourth appearance, and I've never had anyone as passionate about sport and golf as him.”
If the rest of the team were buoyed by Ballesteros, though, Monty admitted that Rory McIlroy had been feeling "upset" following the much discussed potential clash between Tiger Woods and the 21-year-old. And Montgomerie followed Corey Pavin's earlier example of dismissing the idea that the pair could work together in order to guarantee the two would face one another.
"I want to almost avoid that situation. I can't avoid it, there's a one-in-four chance of them meeting up, and there's a one-in-12 chance of them meeting up in the singles I suppose. If it does happen, great, we look forward to that challenge, but a lot has been made of this. It's about a team, not individuals."
Indeed, the apparent bad blood between Woods and McIlroy was the instigator for today's antics, when Graeme McDowell and Martin Kaymer were amongst those attending this morning's practice session wearing curly wigs. "Rory was upset about this Tiger situation and it was getting out of hand, so we decided to find some wigs and get Rory on the first tee to make him feel part of the team again, and he played magnificently again today."
The Scot also found himself talking on Padraig Harrington's inclusion as a wildcard pick once again, commenting: "I think a lot has been said about Padraig's Ryder record. I think at the last two Ryder Cups he would admit himself he was trying a little too hard, first in front of his home crowd in Dublin, and last time he'd come off the back of two major wins, and I think he was emotionally drained.”
So would this year's major winners be similarly drained? "Graeme McDowell’s win has given him a real confidence boost, as if he needed one, so he's had time to realise the position that he's now in. Martin Kaymer's win was more recent, but I was so glad that he came back in his very next tournament at the KLM Open and wins, wins well. So I don't think we have that issue that we had with Padraig in 2008.”
On his team's motivation, Monty reckoned: "The only motivation that this team needed was to lose the Ryder Cup two years ago. I think it was only right to get Seve on the phone. I felt it was more important to hear that passion, more than motivation. We don't need motivating."
The pairings for Europe were as follows: McDowell & McIlroy, the Molinari brothers, Westwood & Fisher, Harrington & Hanson, Donald & Kaymer and Poulter & Jimenez.
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