Colin Montgomerie plans to recommend Europe's Ryder Cup selection process be changed for the 2012 event after having to leave Paul Casey and Justin Rose, the English pair, off his team.
Montgomerie captained Europe to victory over the United States at Celtic Manor in Wales last weekend to regain the trophy. But even though he was given three wild card choices at his own request when previous captains had only two, the Scot wants further modifications.
"Having to leave out two players ... was the worst day of my professional career," he said. "I don't want any future captain to have to go through what I went through on that awful evening in Gleneagles. We have to devise a system of getting top players like that into the European team." Casey is ranked seventh in the world and has finished in the top 10 in seven of the 17 tournaments he has played this year. Rose has won two PGA Tour events in 2010 and won three out of four matches at the 2008 Ryder Cup in Valhalla.
Montgomerie is a member of the European Tour tournament committee, which will appoint the captain for Medinah, Chicago, in 2012 and decide how the team should be assembled. The committee will meet next month to review the 2010 Ryder Cup. Before the Ryder Cup at Oakland Hills in 2004, the European team automatically selected 10 players based on earnings and then added two wild cards. That was changed to bring in world ranking points so that US-based players like Casey and Rose could make the team without having to play in Europe.
But with so many Europeans playing full-time on the PGA Tour, there is still a chance that some top players will miss out. Speaking at the Alfred Dunhill Links in Scotland, Montgomerie confirmed he will not seek the captaincy for Medinah and would instead try to make the team again as a player. He acknowledged he has a mountain to climb to make his 10th Ryder Cup appearance, currently being ranked 425th in the world.
"I have to refocus on my game after two years of focusing on the way other people are playing," Montgomerie said. "But I would have to take my game to a new level to make the team again. Even higher than it was in 1997/98, when I was playing my best golf - because since then the standard of golf being played on tour has improved so much."
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If you go
The flights
There are direct flights from Dubai to Sofia with FlyDubai (www.flydubai.com) and Wizz Air (www.wizzair.com), from Dh1,164 and Dh822 return including taxes, respectively.
The trip
Plovdiv is 150km from Sofia, with an hourly bus service taking around 2 hours and costing $16 (Dh58). The Rhodopes can be reached from Sofia in between 2-4hours.
The trip was organised by Bulguides (www.bulguides.com), which organises guided trips throughout Bulgaria. Guiding, accommodation, food and transfers from Plovdiv to the mountains and back costs around 170 USD for a four-day, three-night trip.
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
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RACECARD
6pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round-1 – Group 1 (PA) $50,000 (Dirt) 1,600m
6.35pm: Festival City Stakes – Conditions (TB) $60,000 (D) 1,200m
7.10pm: Dubai Racing Club Classic – Listed (TB) $100,000 (Turf) 2,410m
7.45pm: Jumeirah Classic Trial – Conditions (TB) $150,000 (T) 1,400m
8.20pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round-1 – Group 2 (TB) $250,000 (D) 1,600m
8.55pm: Cape Verdi – Group 2 (TB) $180,000 (T) 1,600m
9.30pm: Dubai Dash – Listed (TB) $100,000 (T) 1,000m
Indoor Cricket World Cup Dubai 2017
Venue Insportz, Dubai; Admission Free
Day 1 fixtures (Saturday)
Men 1.45pm, Malaysia v Australia (Court 1); Singapore v India (Court 2); UAE v New Zealand (Court 3); South Africa v Sri Lanka (Court 4)
Women Noon, New Zealand v South Africa (Court 3); England v UAE (Court 4); 5.15pm, Australia v UAE (Court 3); England v New Zealand (Court 4)
The bio
Date of Birth: April 25, 1993
Place of Birth: Dubai, UAE
Marital Status: Single
School: Al Sufouh in Jumeirah, Dubai
University: Emirates Airline National Cadet Programme and Hamdan University
Job Title: Pilot, First Officer
Number of hours flying in a Boeing 777: 1,200
Number of flights: Approximately 300
Hobbies: Exercising
Nicest destination: Milan, New Zealand, Seattle for shopping
Least nice destination: Kabul, but someone has to do it. It’s not scary but at least you can tick the box that you’ve been
Favourite place to visit: Dubai, there’s no place like home
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
The Uefa Awards winners
Uefa Men's Player of the Year: Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool)
Uefa Women's Player of the Year: Lucy Bronze (Lyon)
Best players of the 2018/19 Uefa Champions League
Goalkeeper: Alisson (Liverpool)
Defender: Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool)
Midfielder: Frenkie de Jong (Ajax)
Forward: Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
Uefa President's Award: Eric Cantona
French Touch
Carla Bruni
(Verve)
