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Harrington talks down Monty's role in Ryder Cup win

Padraig Harrington wants to be Ryde Cup captain © PA Photos

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Padraig Harrington has played down Colin Montgomerie's role in Europe's Ryder Cup victory by insisting that the Scot did not "do anything revolutionary or new".

Europe snatched the trophy back from the Americans under the guidance of skipper Montgomerie, who handed Harrington a wildcard pick for the tournament despite his erratic form.

Montgomerie has attracted praise for his captaincy which, in contrast to Nick Faldo's efforts two years previously, appeared to create a strong team ethic amongst the Europeans.

But Harrington believes that Montgomerie, far from doing anything groundbreaking, was just putting into practice the lessons he gleaned form his own Ryder Cup experiences.

"Monty didn't put a foot wrong, but did he do anything revolutionary or new? I don't think he did," Harrington told the Telegraph. "He learnt from his own experiences, bringing in a couple more vice-captains, who added to the team atmosphere.

"Everybody got on, and that's not always the case - if you were going to pick out what he did right, it was that he made no mistakes."

The three-time major winner has also revealed that the players were unconvinced by Montgomerie's claim that the Ryder Cup meant "nothing" to him on a personal level.

"Nobody believed that, did they? The players didn't think that," he said. "We knew we were playing for Monty. I was very aware, but I don't believe he realised how he put his whole Ryder Cup career on the line. He could have been a losing captain. Quite justifiably, we wanted to make sure he was a winning one. He deserved it, for what he had done as a player."

Although he insists that he wants to play in the next five Ryder Cups, Harrington has admitted that he is keen to skipper the side himself one day - despite his unimpressive record at the tournament, which stands at 13 losses from 25 matches.

"It's a scary thought," he said. "But an interesting one. Yes, I do want to be a captain. I felt a lot more involved at Celtic Manor. Perhaps because I had a pick, I felt far more connected to the performance of our captain this time. We were very much aligned.

"If I had played badly and the team had lost, we would have gone down together. A lot of the focus would have been on my selection, so I appreciated the enormity of the pressure of being captain."

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