ALASTAIR Forsyth, Scotland's highest placed golfer in the world rankings, yesterday made the candid admission that no Scot had played well enough this season to force his way into Europe's Ryder Cup side to face the USA at Valhalla in Kentucky next month.
The measure of this shortcoming is reflected in the fact that you have to go back as far as 1937 to find the last Ryder Cup team from this side of the Atlantic which didn't include a player from the home of golf.
Asked if he was surprised by thi
s turn of events, the Paisley golfer replied: "Not really, no. Obviously, the results speak for themselves. Nobody has played well enough to get in or well enough to be in contention. At the start of the campaign, you might have hoped there would be two or three Scots. But no-one's played well enough."
While Forsyth hasn't written off Colin Montgomerie's chances of receiving a wild card from Nick Faldo – "On his experience and record in the match, Monty might have a chance of a pick if he has a good week here" – he's already set his sights on making a stronger challenge to be part of the European team at Celtic Manor in 2010.
"Obviously, we have guys with potential to be in the side – people like myself, Stephen Gallacher, Marc Warren, Paul Lawrie and Monty. There's others knocking on the door and a couple of youngsters, hopefully, coming through from the Challenge Tour.
"The more Scottish guys we can get on the main Tour, the better the chances we'll have of getting people in the Ryder Cup team. Hopefully, next time there will be a few Scots."
With Paul Casey and either Ian Poulter or Darren Clarke favourites to win wild cards for Valhalla, Monty's hopes of returning to the straight and narrow at Gleneagles and applying pressure on Nick Faldo to consider him for a pick appeared to hinge yesterday on TrackMan, the sophisticated radar-based equipment which delivers data on ball launch, club movement and swing analysis.
Monty was using the hi-tech system on the range as he tries to recapture the form which has made him an ever-present in the biennial match against the USA since 1991.
Marc Warren, Monty's partner at the World Cup last year, is also a fan of the video tracking system. "It was originally designed for ballistic testing," said Warren, "so tracking a golf ball is easy. I know a lot of other guys have been using it. It's a great practice tool."
