Ryder Cup Betting / Ralph Ellis / 01 June 2010 /

Ralph Ellis looks at a young, Welsh talent who could make a big impression in his local tournament

When it comes to the Ryder Cup captaincy, I've always been a bit of an ABM - Anyone But Monty. From the moment his bottom lip curled about being left out by Nick Faldo from Valhalla there's been the constant suspicion that it's more about him than the team.

The other thing that doesn't make sense is to have a proud Scot in charge of a team that's playing in Wales. As Tiger Woods' former coach Butch Harmon said at the time the search for a European captain had just begun: "Ian Woosnam in Wales. I can't even imagine why anyone else was on the docket to be considered".

It should have made sense. Woosie captained the team brilliantly to win the trophy at the K Club the last time Europe were at home. And you'd have thought that Faldo's miserable experience would have been enough to convince everybody that having the right captain is much more important than sticking to the tradition of rotating the honour around the senior pros.

Just as the Irish fans rallied around Darren Clarke at the K club, so the Welsh fans will want one of their own to support. Which is where the emergence of Rhys Davies is suddenly casting a small ray of sunshine over the rainy Celtic Manor.

The 25-year-old from Bridgend has nudged himself up to number 55 in the world, and after last week's superb performance in the Madrid Masters looks capable of going higher. His game is ideally suited to Celtic Manor, and he's got a terrific chance to prove that at the Wales Open this week. This, of course, is the tournament Montgomerie insisted all his potential Ryder Cup stars should play in. Most of them aren't showing up, so instead it's become the tournament where he might just discover a new, and local, hero.

After four years since turning pro, Davies is finally coming to terms with the temperament needed to compete week in and week out on tour. He's followed up his breakthrough win in Morocco in March with solid performances and his feathery putting technique will be priceless on greens that can run very fast on the purpose built Twenty Ten course.

Davies is a generous [26.0] to score a home win there this week, and given his current form the [6.6] for a top five finish looks tempting, as does [3.6] for the top ten. "I like the course and it suits my eye," he says.

He recently met Monty, but got only the cold shoulder. "I just said 'hello' to him. I'm not expecting a call because I don't think he's got my number," said Davies.

All the more reason to take advantage of the home support to give the Ryder Cup captain a serious reminder this week!　
　
Five things you might not know about Rhys Davies...

He's actually not Welsh at all but Scottish! He was born in Edinburgh in May 1985 while his dad was working for the Scottish Sports Council - the family moved to Wales when he was two.

He first played golf with his dad on a nine hole pitch and putt in Barry - but only had one club so learned to putt with a nine-iron. He was 11 before he played the game properly

He played cricket for Glamorgan's Academy, and was in the same England Under 15 squad as Alastair Cook

The British Boys golf champion, he won a scholarship to East Tennessee State University where he recorded better sophomore statistics than Tiger Woods. He was nicknamed "the package" because of his complete all-round game.

His coach David Llewellyn was Rookie of the Year in 1971, but only ever won one European Tour event

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