Colin Montgomerie talks up Team Europe heading into Florida event

The big Scot, who enjoyed an incredible Ryder Cup career for Europe, is joining forces with Darren Clarke, Thomas Bjorn, Bernhard Langer, Miguel Angel Jimenez and Alex Cejka in this week’s event at Feather Sound Country Club in Clearwater in Florida.

With former Open champion Clarke captaining the side, Team Europe are up against holder Team USA, led by Jim Furyk, and Team International, skippered by Mike Weir.

Starting on Thursday and played over three days with a rest day on Saturday, the tournament involves players competing in six-balls and sixsomes instead of the traditional fourballs and foursomes. Each of the six sessions is played over nine holes, with six points being up for grabs at every single hole.

“A three-man match-play event in golf, you are thinking ‘hang on, how does that work’ when it is normally one on one?” admitted Montgomerie. “But actually the points system and getting into it so quickly works so well.

“Although Europe weren’t involved, it came down to the final hole of the final match in the final game, which was fantastic after so many points were played for and that proved the points system worked very well. It is a great format.”

Furyk is captaining a side comprising Jason Caron, Stewart Cink, Jerry Kelly, Justin Leonard and Steve Stricker while Weir is teaming up with Steven Alker, Angel Cabrera, K J Choi, Mark Hensby and Y E Yang.

“It’s a new course this year and I don’t think many of us have played it before as it’s not on the schedule and I saw my coach Kevin Craggs at the IMG Academy in Bradenton en route here as I don’t want to let down my team-mates,” added Montgomerie, who is one of the players serving as a Skechers brand ambassador for the event.

‘On paper, our team is possibly the top team’

“It is tremendous to be part of a strong European team again. When you think of Clarke, Bjorn, Langer, Jimenez, myself, Cejka, it’s a ‘who’s who’ really of European golf in its day and it is an honour to be part of that team.

“On paper, our team is as good as the other two teams and possibly the top team. It’s just a matter of proving it. We did it the first day of the three last time when we were leading.

“Did we get complacent or whatever? I don’t know. But the American and International teams played extremely well over the weekend and pushed us into third spot. It is just a matter of holing the putts, as any match play is about.”

Alker, a Kiwi who has taken the Champions Tour by storm since turning 50, is representing Team International at a time when he is actually living in Scotland.

My son's living in Scotland and we bought some property there,” he said. “We have family up there as well. So that's the main reason we did it. And we love Scotland as well. The golf was good, too. Twisted my wife's arm to move there.”

As for taking on Team Europe this week, he added with a smile: “Yeah, well, my wife is English and I know all the boys on the European team obviously.”