• Ryder Cup

Tiger: No barrier to Monty appointment

ESPN staff
January 15, 2013
Tiger Woods is interested to see which way Europe go with their Ryder Cup captain © PA Photos
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Tiger Woods claims there is nothing to say it would be a mistake to hand Colin Montgomerie a second shot at Ryder Cup captaincy.

The European Tour committee are due to vote on the captaincy on Tuesday, but the issue has been clouded by speculation that Montgomerie is ready for a second crack at glory. It was widely believed to be a straight fight between Paul McGinley and Darren Clarke but in recent weeks, noises from the Montgomerie camp have suggested the Scot is keen on the job.

Montgomerie led Europe to victory at Celtic Manor in 2010, after which he said he would not bid for a second shot, but his stance has since altered.

It is proving to be a controversial situation, with world No. 1 Rory McIlroy making it clear he and other senior players favour McGinley to lead the team at Gleneagles in 2014.

Woods is an interested observer, but feels there is nothing to say Montgomerie would struggle second time around.

"Tony Jacklin did alright, Bernard Gallagher did okay," Woods said. "They had it more than once."

USA have gone for an experienced head in Tom Watson, a move Woods concedes is against their recent policy.

"I don't know what the European Tour matrix is," he said. "We have gone outside of our matrix model we have used over the years with Tom. We usually had guys in their 40s, early 50s who had won a major championship and were basically at the back end of their career.

"The European model has been different over the years and it all depends on what their committee wants to do."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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