NEW Ryder Cup captain Colin Montgomerie has admitted he may follow Sam Torrance's lead by seeking leadership advice from Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson.
Torrance skippered Europe to victory in the tournament in 2002 after canvassing leading figures from other sports – including fellow Scot Ferguson – and it is an approach Montgomerie, who saw one of his potential 2010 players, Rory McIlroy, win t
he Dubai Desert Classic yesterday, plans to consider ahead of next year's match at Celtic Manor.
Montgomerie said: "I have the greatest respect for the captaincy of Sam Torrance in 2002. He rightly learned from another great Scot in Sir Alex Ferguson and I might be doing the same thing myself. Why not use the knowledge of others? I want to learn as best I can. I want to walk away, regardless of the result, having given exactly 100 per cent."
Montgomerie, 45, has already confirmed he will not consider playing in the match and says his name will not even appear on the Ryder Cup points list.
"I will not be competing in 2010. I am captain of that team, my points of qualification will be nullified, simple as that. I will remain on other lists but not the Ryder Cup one. I don't want to be in an embarrassing position because of nearly making the team. I won't be in that position because my points simply won't count."
Meanwhile, McIlroy is aiming to take his game to the next level after claiming a thrilling maiden professional victory in Dubai.
The 19-year-old held his nerve to hole a three-foot putt for par at the last, sealing a final-round two-under-par 70 to finish one shot ahead of Justin Rose, who could have forced a play-off but missed a birdie putt at 18 and had to settle for a 67. McIlroy's six-shot lead at the start of yesterday had been whittled down to one by the time the Northern Irishman headed up the final fairway, but he kept his composure for the vital putt to secure the win.
Afterwards he was delighted to have risen 15 places to 14th in the world rankings and to second in the Race to Dubai, and he wants to continue his recent run of form in America where he will play four events before the Masters in April.
"This win has definitely moved me up a step and I just want to keep getting better and better," said McIlroy. "Your success only makes you more motivated to do better. I have become a very good player, but I still have a lot of years to progress and I just want to keep improving and hopefully one day I will be able to compete with Tiger (Woods].
"I will have to reassess my goals, but I will just go out every week and try and get myself into contention going into the back nine on Sunday and that's my goal every week."
McIlroy came close to his maiden win last year when he suffered play-off defeats at the European Masters and Hong Kong Open and it appeared to be again slipping through his young hands as five consecutive birdies around the turn were cancelled out by three straight bogeys on the back nine.
He set pulses racing as he overhit his approach to the final green into a back bunker, but he chipped out to three feet – a shot he rates as the best from the sand he has ever played.
"You watch it on TV and you see guys coming down the stretch with a four or five-shot lead and you think it's easy, but it's not," he added. "You still have to play the shots and hole the putts. I got myself into a great position in the middle of the back nine, but Justin fought back.
"But it was nice to hold it together on the last and get a great up and down. It's definitely a burden off my shoulders. If I hadn't won having a six-shot lead, it would have been pretty hard to take and pretty hard to come back from. But I was able to scrape in at the end.
"All these situations I have put myself in is all experience and I am gathering them all in. Obviously all the experiences I have had in the past helped me today and hopefully this experience will help me in the future."
All but three of the top 15 places were taken by Europeans, with Henrik Stenson third and Martin Kaymer, Paul Casey and Robert Karlsson tied for fourth.
Spaniard Miguel Angel Jimenez finished joint seventh ahead of compatriot and world No2 Sergio Garcia, while Montgomerie was 13th alongside Alvaro Quiros and Ross Fisher.
Fellow Scot Gary Orr finished in joint 36th place after a 72 left him on four-under 284, while Alastair Forsyth finished on one-under 287. Paul Lawrie had the worst round of the final day, his 79 dropping him down to finish last but one on eight-over for the tournament.
