• Ryder Cup

Monty hits out at Ryder Cup selection process

ESPN staff
October 7, 2010
Colin Montgomerie: My Ryder Cup is over

Colin Montgomerie has criticised the Ryder Cup qualification system after admitting that leaving Paul Casey out of the European squad was the worst moment of his career.

World No. 7 Casey did not make the team automatically, mainly because he did not make enough appearances on the European Tour, which carries a greater weighting in the selection process.

That meant he was reliant on a wildcard pick from European skipper Montgomerie - but he was overlooked in favour of Luke Donald, Padraig Harrington and Edoardo Molinari.

Now Montgomerie, a member of the Ryder Cup committee, has hinted that he will suggest a change to the method of squad selection. "I'm sure the qualification system will come up again in our first meeting," Montgomerie said.

"I shouldn't have had to leave out top ten players in the world. That was the worst day of my professional career, having to do that to peers, to friends, to colleagues.

"The timing happened to be horrible. I wasn't able to call them before they started their round [in Chicago]. There was nothing personal in that decision. It was a decision that hurt me, having to leave out such quality. Paul especially is a personal friend."

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