Padraig Harrington yesterday made it one of his first acts as a two-time Open champion to place his faith firmly behind Colin Montgomerie for a place in his ninth consecutive Ryder Cup team this year, and also argued the case for the "elder statesman" to continue his role as effectively player-captain.
"Now that I'm in the team, I hope to tee it up with Monty in the Ryder Cup at Valhalla," Harrington said. "I look forward to playing with anybody in the team, but going back to the last couple of games I played with Monty, he would certainly be a pick of mine."
Coming from the only playing member of the European team with any major championship to his name, far less two, a plea for Montgomerie to be his partner is an endorsement that Nick Faldo, the European captain, will find hard to resist, although they had that well-publicised spat during the Seve Trophy in Ireland last year, when he accused Montgomerie of failing to attend team meetings. The Scot strenuously denies this.
Harrington and Montgomerie have proved to be a formidable pairing. At Oakland Hills, Detroit, four years ago, they were first out in the morning fourballs against US captain Hal Sutton's "dream team" of Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson. It is easy to underestimate the inspirational effect of the 2&1 victory on the ultimately victorious European side.
Similarly, Harrington and Montgomerie were first out two years ago at the K Club in Ireland, although on that occasion they lost to Woods in partnership with Jim Furyk by one hole. Europe still won handsomely and Harrington yesterday looked far beyond individual results like that to the positive influence the 45-year-old Scot brings to the teamroom.
Before his epic Open victory on Sunday, Harrington had been well down the pecking order for this year's match in September, and it is an indication of the importance he attaches to this biennial contest that the first thing he did while eating his porridge at breakfast yesterday, with the old silver claret jug polished and shining beside him, was to examine the Ryder Cup standings.
There he saw his name proudly at the head of the top 10 who will qualify automatically. Faldo will then have two wildcard picks to complete his team of 12, and he will announce them in Scotland, at Gleneagles on August 31 at the end of the Johnnie Walker Championship. Harrington is in no doubt that Montgomerie should receive a wildcard, should he need it.
Harrington said that win or lose, Montgomerie has exactly the right attitude for team golf, and, moreover, he has displayed the kind of natural leadership that he would not challenge. "In the Ryder Cup, the only thing that counts is the team," he said. "I have played in many teams and I have never had any time for somebody saying he played well if the team lost. It makes no difference. The team is everything.
"A player can be winning all his matches and influence the team so negatively that he causes the team to lose, and vice versa. A player can lose every match, but be so positive and say all the right things that he can make all the difference for the team to win. There's so much going on behind the scenes in a team effort and it is very important to get the balance in the team."
Montgomerie might be a Jekyll-and-Hyde character on the golf course in his pursuit of individual success, but there are never any of his legendary mood swings within the team environment.
"He is a different man when it comes to the Ryder Cup," assured Harrington. "I don't think any player would not want to tee it up with him in the fourballs or the foursomes and go out and take on anybody in the world."
While there are many who believe that Harrington should effectively take on the role of playing captain, the Irishman argued eloquently for that role to stay with Montgomerie.
"I've captained teams before, but for some reason I've always felt that in the Ryder Cup other people get more out of being in that position," he said. "I'm quite happy that I can perform to my level regardless of my position in the hierarchy of the team, whereas Monty clearly performs better by being the player-captain.
"He likes to be out front and leading. I'm the sort of player who can play No.1 or No.10 or No.7 and put in the exact same performance. I feel I'll have to step up to the bat at some stage and I could be player-captain, but I still think that's Monty's job.
"If he shows the form he has done recently, he'll be right up there for a pick. He is an elder statesman and a great man for that position."
As Montgomerie takes a week's break before playing in the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, followed by the US PGA Championship at Oakland Hills, where he holed Europe's winning putt back in 2004, this is the kind of ringing endorsement that will spur him on.
