Ryder Cup Betting / Bill Elliott / 28 January 2009 / Leave a Comment

Money talked in the end as Colin Montgomerie is named head honcho for Celtic Manor. Bill Elliott reports from Dubai...

Hooray, it's Monty for Celtic Manor then and maybe, just maybe, Ollie for America in 2012. What today's Ryder Cup announcement tends to prove is if you want to know what is going on in the golfing world when it comes to these things then watch the betting exchanges.

It was the sudden flurry of money on Colin Montgomerie a fortnight ago that alerted everyone to the surprise thought that the big man, considered a shoo-in for Gleneagles in 2014, was in fact being fast-tracked into the void left by ailing Jose-Maria Olazabal's prevarication over whether he wanted to be a player or a captain.

So the announcement in Dubai yesterday took no-one by surprise. What did surprise those of us who bothered to come out to this expensive building site was that Olazabal was not named as the 2012 captain for the trip to the USA. Why? Well, the thought was growing here that Ollie is not certain his health will allow him to take on such a demanding job.

The rheumatism that has blighted much of the noble Spaniard's life over the last decade can reduce him to tears of agony and though he is currently in some sort of remission and plays this week in the Dubai Desert Classic there are clearly concerns that he will be hors de combat come Medinah in three years time. Let's hope not.

Right now, however, he is set to accompany Monty to Wales. "I've asked Jose-Maria to be one of my assistants and he has agreed. I am delighted. Everyone who was out in Valhalla last year says he did a fantastic job as Nick Faldo's assistant captain, bringing real passion and commitment to the team room. Together, we'll try to do the same in Wales.

"My job now is to win the trophy back for Europe. I watched a fair bit of the match last year and I felt we lost a bit of initiative out there. It's very important we get that initiative back. That's my job and I will give it everything I can. If it means cutting back on some my own business commitments to do it then I will.

"The Ryder Cup comes first. This, as it turns out, is my time. I didn't expect it to be, but it is."

In fact Monty was a distant outsider when discussions began a fortnight ago in Abu Dhabi. The favourite was Olazabal but he could not make up his mind if he actually wanted the job, and so it was that Henrik Stenson suggested Monty be considered.

At first the players' committee thought the prankster Swede was joking again, but when it became clear he wasn't they began to consider Monty seriously. By the time they met here in Dubai yesterday the momentum was all behind Monty. Instead of bagpipes and kilts in Scotland in five years time he can have laverbread and a big choir in Wales. It'll do...

* Europe are the current [2.06] favourites for the Ryder Cup. USA are [2.22], while the draw trades at [11.5].

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