John McHenry

NO surprises. That was my gut feeling once I heard Colin Montgomerie announce his three picks for this year's European team to compete against the Americans in the Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor. Although there were a lot of strong candidates, I felt his selection was right because it both reflected their current form as well as their world status, particularly given the fact that they are about to enter golf's most pressurised team cauldron, the Ryder Cup. 
Let's start with the easy selection first. Montgomerie was absolutely right to pick Edoardo Molinari, following his sensational win on Sunday. Molinari, who was a member of the Challenge Tour just last year where he won four times, has come late to the party in terms of recognition, but no-one can argue with his consistency this year in Europe with six top-five finishes. We are all aware that he and his brother Francesco have now become the first brothers selected to participate on the same Ryder Cup team, but not many may be aware that they paired up superbly last year to win the season-ending World Cup team event for Italy.

Their performance there, particularly in the fourball and foursomes pairings, would have got Montgomerie's attention, and Monty will now hope that he will have in them a formidable winning combination so vital to Europe's ambition of winning back the Ryder Cup. The fact that he has been a prolific winner in his short time in professional golf also bodes well as Montgomerie will rely on his rookies to provide him regularly with points while also inspiring others around him.
The selection of Harrington should not have come as a surprise either. I was absolutely gob-smacked earlier today when I heard some British commentators say that they felt that he would not be selected. How could you possibly not select Europe's flag-bearer over the best part of the last decade? I would be the very first to say that his form has been erratic, but much like Tiger Woods on the American side, once Padraig Harrington made clear his desire to participate in this year's Ryder Cup then that should have been enough, even though everybody would have hoped that he qualified for his place on merit rather than relying on a wild card.
Harrington has that X factor. He has proven himself against the world's best time and time again and he has won more major championships (three), than the rest of the European team put together. When he speaks inside the team room all his team-mates will respect what he has to say and I believe this time he will offer so much more, both in terms of team points and leadership, something for which he was very self critical of at the last Ryder Cup in Valhalla. Padraig's successes over the past decade have done much to give other Europeans the self belief to go on and win majors and World Golf Championships. Both Colin and his management team believe that he has a lot still to offer and I for one completely agree with him.
The last selection was probably the trickiest in that there were in Donald, Casey and Rose, three Englishmen, two of whom - Donald and Casey - were in the world's top 10 players on Sunday night and the other has won twice in America already this year. In the end I feel that Monty went for Donald more because he made a more committed effort to qualify in Europe for the Ryder Cup, for the fact that he has already participated  this year at Celtic Manor, where he finished third to Graeme McDowell, and more importantly for the Ryder Cup team, the fact he has a fantastic Ryder Cup record, particularly in the fourballs and foursomes. His all round consistency means that he is the ideal candidate to partner the more aggressive players on the team such as Fisher, Westwood, and Poulter.
I naturally feel sorry for Rose, who came too late to the party and simply had too much to do given his commitments in America. Paul Casey on the other hand must be kicking himself, because as early as the start of this year, and once again after the Open Championship, he had Ryder Cup qualification pretty much in the bag. His subsequent lack of participation in Europe has cost him dearly and you would just have to wonder what he will be saying to himself while he watches the tournament in October from his home!
Anyway, back to the selections. I believe that Montgomerie has shown his leadership skills in both these selections and those of his vice-captains, many of whom would not always have seen eye to eye with him. His honesty and bravery has given him probably one of Europe's most formidable teams in many years. He must now guard from complacency but, given his performance to date, Europe should have little to fear from the Americans, with or without Tiger!