Colin Callander column
A COUPLE of months ago, Colin Montgomerie admitted that he had compiled a list of the 12 golfers he thought would make the European side for next year's Ryder Cup match at Celtic Manor. Sensibly, he informed us he has no plans to divulge it, selecting instead to lock it away in his office for future reference.
What is less clear, however, is whether he has considered altering it in the aftermath of what happened at the recent Vivendi Trophy in France. I have thought for some time that the race for a place in the 2010 Ryder Cup team might be hotter than it has ever been before and the match at St Nom la Breteche merely reinforced that view.
Several hitherto relatively unheralded names shot to the fore in France and their performances might well have caused the likes of Justin Rose and Ian Poulter to rue the fact they chose not to be there. The chances are that Padraig Harrington, Lee Westwood, Sergio Garcia, Paul Casey and Henrik Stenson will all be on Montgomerie's list and it is not too controversial to suggest Rory McIlroy will have been included as well.
That leaves the likes of Martin Kaymer, Ross Fisher, Simon Dyson, Miguel Angel Jimenez, Soren Hansen, Luke Donald, Graeme McDowell, Oliver Wilson, Robert Karlsson, Soren Kjeldsen, Poulter and Rose jostling for the other six places and then there are the claims of Anders Hansen, Chris Wood, Francesco Molinari, Peter Hanson, Alvaro Quiros, Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano, Nick Dougherty and Anthony Wall to consider as well.
Altogether, that's a total of 26 bone fide contenders and who is to say a couple of others won't materialise as the qualification process unfolds. The battle for places in the 2010 European Ryder Cup team will be intense and clearly will be skewed in favour of the players who have access to the Majors and the lucrative WGC events.
This year Kaymer, Fisher and Wilson all owe their high standing on the money list at least in part to their performances in these events and anyone who doesn't get in them next year will be left with a mountain to climb to claim a place in Montgomerie's team.
That might mean that it is a match too soon for Wood and Molinari, but maybe not. Certainly, based on what happened in France, both would be welcome additions to the side and they are not alone. In fact, I wouldn't bet too much on the outcome if ever the Ryder Cup stalwarts were invited to take part in a selection decider against rookies like Kaymer, Wood, Molinari, Hanson, Quiros, Wall, Molinari, Dyson, Fernandez-Castano, Dougherty, Wall and Anders Hansen.
Lack of matchplay experience did not stop Hansen carding 10 birdies in the 12 holes he took to demolish a luckless Dougherty 7 and 6 in the Vivendi Trophy singles. Nor did it prevent Wood coming just a generous six-foot concession short of becoming the first player ever to emerge with five points out of five from the match.
Montgomerie is quite clearly spoilt for choice. Gone are the days when Europe (and GB and I before it) struggled to come up with 12 world-class performers and would have been more competitive if the matches had been reduced to 10 or even eight a side.
Nowadays, in fact, I would suggest a European reserve side would defeat its American equivalent and it's not long ago that it would have been ludicrous to suggest such a thing.
But that's a discussion for another time. Instead, the editor has asked me to name who I think will make the 2010 European Ryder Cup team and, unlike Monty, I have not been afforded the luxury of hiding my choices in a desk drawer.
So, in time-honoured fashion, it's time to publish and be damned.
After much debate, and with some trepidation, I can confirm next year's European team will comprise the following 12 golfers: Paul Casey, Simon Dyson, Ross Fisher, Sergio Garcia, Padraig Harrington, Martin Kaymer, Robert Karlsson, Rory McIlroy, Graeme McDowell, Ian Poulter, Henrik Stenson and Lee Westwood.
Monty's Vice-Captains will be Jose Maria Olazabal, Paul McGinley, Thomas Bjorn and Miguel Angel Jimenez.
You heard it here first.
** Colin Callander is a former editor of Golf Monthly and has written about golf for over 25 years. He is a member of three clubs: the Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews, the Elie Golf House Club and Welwyn Garden City