Monty Backs Down from Gleneagles Mandate

Just a few months ago, Colin Montgomerie made it abundantly clear that he wanted every European player within striking distance of making the Ryder Cup team to be in the field at Gleneagles - the final event held prior to the formation of the twelve man squad.

Monty, with three captain's picks at his disposal, has four players on his radar that are competing in the United States at the Barclays. (Thank goodness for them that their cell phone alarm clocks work!)

Despite this, Monty has backed down from the notion that he would exclude these four players - Luke Donald, Paul Casey, Paddy Harrington, and Justin Rose - as a penalty for not playing the Euro Tour this week.

"My remit at the start of this campaign, and it has never changed, was to assemble the best 12 players for Europe to try to regain the Ryder Cup for Europe," said Montgomerie. "I feel I'm glad that the players that might well get selected, that are playing in America right now, are playing golf, playing competitive golf. That's very important, so I support their choice.

Monty is playing in the field with Sam Torrance to evaluate the players. Seems kind of counterproductive since he'll be playing golf and not watching it, right?