MONTY HITS BACK AT SEV
Colin Montgomerie and Jose Maria Olazabal leapt to the defence of European golf last night after scathing words of criticism from former flag-bearer Seve Ballesteros.
Montgomerie captained Britain and Ireland to a comfortable 161/2 - 111/2 win over Continental Europe in the Seve Trophy at The Wynyard near Middlesbrough.
But the victory was overshadowed by a storm involving former European skipper and Ryder Cup legend Ballesteros.
Ballesteros (left) was reported to have told a Sunday newspaper that standards in Europe were poor. "I don't see any players who really impress me - from either side of the Atlantic," he said.
"There are a lot of players with great talent and great future ahead. But I don't get impressed that easily - the last player to impress me was Tiger Woods a couple of years ago."
The five-times major winner, upset at what he called "unfair" newspaper reports, handed letters of explanation to the players after they came off course yesterday. But some were still clearly upset
Victorious skipper Monty said: "Seve is entitled to his opinion but I was very, very impressed with my team today."
European Tour executive director George O'Grady said Ballesteros's comments had been ill-timed, adding: "The tour has a lot of exceptional talent coming through. I have spoken to all the players. Some of them have taken it with a pinch of salt and some have stronger views."
Leading by a single point overnight, Great Britain and Ireland forged clear with Bradley Dredge beating Frenchman Thomas Levet to put them in an unassailable position with three matches still out on course.
The five-point success was a complete turnaround after Britain and Ireland had trailed 4-1 on the opening day.
"I'm delighted, especially coming back the way we did," said Montgomerie. "To win the singles 7-3 was a real team effort."
Olazabal's 2 & 1 defeat of Montgomerie in the first match was his only consolation. "If you look at the result I guess I didn't do a good job, but I'm proud of the team," said the Spaniard, standing in as captain for the unfit Ballesteros.
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