If Monty Is Considering Langer, Is Pavin Considering Couples?

European Ryder Cup captain Colin Montgomerie was in classic Monty-being-Monty form earlier this week when he suggested that he might take a look at 53-year-old Bernhard Langer for a Captain's pick spot on his team for Celtic Manor.

"I would not rule out picking Bernhard," Montgomerie said. "I’m not ruling out anybody, especially someone who has performed to that degree and is in the form of his life.

"It wouldn’t be such an out-of-the-blue pick. I think he’s playing as well as he ever has and he’s said he is. And I know through having played with Bernhard Langer that he is as good a partner as anyone could ever have."

While almost anyone would see through this transparent attempt to get everyone's hopes up about a pentagenarian playing in the Ryder Cup, perhaps it is worth considering.  But, the only way that it would be especially compelling is if Corey Pavin committed to giving a pick to one of the American's 50+ rock stars - Fred Couples or Tom Watson.

Early in 2010, both Couples and Watson were within striking distance of the Masters title and the top 8 on the Ryder Cup points list.  As expected, both eventually fell back.  Couples now is 71st on the Ryder Cup points list.  Watson is 40th.

Watson has not played as well since the Masters, including a missed cut at the Open Championship.  Fred Couples had a chance at the Senior PGA Championship, ultimately losing to Tom Lehman.  After skipping the Senior Open Championship to focus on his hometown major at Sahalee, Couples came up just short to Langer.

There has been increasing talk about the old guys that there should be a 50+ version of the Ryder Cup.  Not a bad idea, but what about including a Couples-Langer showdown as part of the Ryder Cup undercard?

Certainly that would leave a number of Americans upset at the prospect of losing out on a Ryder Cup spot to a guy who plays in sneakers and only part-time.  The deep European bench would be annoyed that Monty returned the favor that then Captain Langer gave to Monty when selecting him for the '04 team - on which, Montgomerie was a strong contributor.

Ultimately, though, the Ryder Cup is an exhibition match.  The Americans have been getting routed in recent years, with the very notable outlier of the last matches at Valhalla.  Captain Pavin would likely not jeopardize the road game defense of the Cup by inserting Couples onto the team, but his leadership at current Presidents Cup captain certainly couldn't hurt.