"He didn't send his players out into torrential rain in waterproof suits that weren't waterproof. Unlike Pavin."

Lawrence Donegan on Monty's coach of the year honor:

So what exactly did "coach" Montgomerie do to deserve the honour bestowed on him by a panel of distinguished national newspaper sports editors? Well, he fronted a series of press conferences during Ryder Cup week which ran high on entertainment value and low on insight ("The only thing that matters is 14 and a half points") and irony ("The Ryder Cup is not about me. It never has been about me'). He made his American counterpart, Corey Pavin, seem very dull, although admittedly that wasn't hard to do.

And he didn't send his players out into torrential rain in waterproof suits that weren't waterproof. Unlike Pavin.

The pairings and the singles line-up were put out in Montgomerie's name but we can safely assume his phalanx of vice-captains, and the players themselves, had a huge input. The gossip suggests he gave some good speeches in the team room during the week. By virtue of his own Ryder Cup record as a player, he commanded a degree of respect from his squad for the duration. And, lest anyone forget, he did win.