Tour against Montgomerie's plea

ANY change to Europe's Ryder Cup qualification system would allow only four wildcard picks at most, European Tour tournament committee chairman Thomas Bjorn has confirmed.

European Ryder Cup captain Colin Montgomerie has hinted he will request a change and push for more say over wildcards for his team, who play the US at Celtic Manor, Wales, next year.

"It will never be more than four picks, that's for sure," Denmark's Bjorn said.

"Monty will put his case forward and we'll take it from there. What will be, will be. And everyone will go away accepting it and be happy about it."

Darren Clarke and Montgomerie are in next week's field along with Bjorn, neither having qualified for The Players.

Ryder Cup captain Montgomerie is looking to hit back from an 81 at the Spanish open last Friday which matched his worst round in Europe for five years.

Clarke, meanwhile, decided to add the event to his schedule after pulling out of one in South Korea two weeks ago to be at home for his older son Tyrone starting boarding school.

Unlike Montgomerie, the 40-year-old Ulsterman is already sure of his place in next month's US Open.

He commented: "I just want to kick-start my season – it's been a bit stop-start."