Captain Monty in no hurry

McGinley, Bjorn and Olazabal all strong contenders to assist Scot

Last updated: 4th February 2010   Subscribe to RSS Feed

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Ryder Cup captain Colin Montgomerie won't announce his vice-captains until after The Open at St Andrews in July.

The European captain intends to give everybody an opportunity to qualify for his team before deciding who will assist him at Celtic Manor in October.

American counterpart Corey Pavin confirmed Tom Lehman, Davis Love, Jeff Sluman and Paul Goydos as his vice-captains on Wednesday.

Montgomerie's predecessor Nick Faldo named Paul McGinley as his vice-captain at BMW PGA Championship in May 2008 - only for the Irishman to later decline the role as he wanted to play in Valhalla.

Situation

"There will be nothing announced on Europe's part until at least after the British Open this year, so that's the third week in July at least before any announcement is made on our part," he said.

"I want to give everybody an opportunity of qualifying for the team and we will know more about what the qualifying situation is around that time."

As well as McGinley, Thomas Bjorn and Jose Maria Olazabal, who was Faldo's only vice-captain at the last Ryder Cup, are options for the Scot.

On Pavin's appointments, he added: "I don't really have any thoughts, I was never going to have any thoughts at all. That's up to him and the American team and I wish them well."

Montgomerie was speaking after carding a one-under-par round of 71 during the first round of the Dubai Desert Classic in the United Arab Emirates.

"It was a solid round of golf - there was only one bogey and I missed a fairway at the ninth," he told Sky Sports.

"Just two birdies...not enough birdies. The greens were not at their best this afternoon, so hopefully tomorrow morning we'll have them a little bit better and scoring should be better."

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