What players are saying about the Ryder Cup

LONDON, Sept 9 (Reuters) -- Seven-times European number one Colin Montgomerie, who will play in his seventh Ryder Cup at Oakland Hills next week, was selected by Europe captain Bernhard Langer as one of his two wildcard picks.

Montgomerie and his fellow competitors have been speaking about the biennial showdown with the United States:

"Being a wildcard pick is a new experience for me. The first five Ryder Cups that I played in I qualified as number one and the sixth I was fifth," said Montgomerie.

"I wasn't that close to getting there automatically, which means that Bernhard had to go a long way down the list to find me. That means a lot to me."

Chris Riley, after playing his way on to the U.S. team by tying for fourth at last month's U.S. PGA Championship: "It's awesome. I don't think I can put it into words. To play for your country and everything, I get chills just thinking about it."

Stewart Cink, who won last month's WGC-NEC Invitational after being selected as one of U.S. captain Hal Sutton's two wildcard picks: "My confidence is at an all-time high in my career right now.

"I feel almost better about being picked now than I did in 2001 finishing 10th, because Hal wanted me to be on the team."

American veteran Fred Funk, who qualified automatically for his first Ryder Cup at the age of 48: "This is the highlight of my golf career. It was a real honour to be picked for the Presidents Cup last year by (captain) Jack Nicklaus, but I didn't want to have Hal make the decision."

U.S. Masters champion Phil Mickelson, on the possibility of being paired for the first time with Tiger Woods at a Ryder Cup: "I'd love it. I've been wanting to play with Tiger for a long time, so I would love to be paired with him. But again, just about everybody on the team I would love to be paired with."

Britain's Luke Donald, selected as one of Langer's two wildcards along with Montgomerie: "To play in the Ryder Cup is a dream and it is something I have wanted to do ever since I turned professional. To get the chance now is just amazing."

Spaniard Sergio Garcia, on the balance of the 2004 European team: "This is the best team we have. We are really looking forward to Oakland Hills. And there's a nice atmosphere between the players which is always important."

Briton David Howell, one of five rookies on the European team, after sealing his Cup spot at last month's BMW International Open in Munich: "This is the biggest thing I have achieved. I played my heart out and I was a lot calmer than I thought I would be."

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