'Too many mistakes' - Montgomerie hits out at Harrington captaincy

Colin Montgomerie has criticised Padraig Harrington's captaincy at the 2021 Ryder Cup in Kiawah Island, suggesting that mistakes in pairing and selection contributed to Europe's record defeat.

Against a formidably strong US team on home soil, Europe struggled from the first, eventually slipping to a 19-9 loss, their worst since the Great Britain & Ireland team was expanded to include the entire continent in 1979.

Montgomerie, one of the most celebrated Ryder Cup players of all-time, said that better decision-making might not have altered the result last September - but would have prevented it turning into a record loss.

"Last year, too many mistakes were made," the Scot told the BBC. "Yes the US played well but Europe didn't play to their potential for the first time in my memory and we have to do that to have a chance in Rome.

"It was a heavy and poor defeat. We need to have a bit of a rethink about how we pick the team and how we get our top 12 playing.

"Were our top 12 playing in that Ryder Cup? Possibly not. Were they playing in the right groups? Possibly not. Would it have changed the result? Possibly not.

"But it wouldn't have been a record defeat and that was a shame, so we've got to get that back on track in a hurry.

"We need to find another Viktor Hovland and another Jon Rahm and quickly.

"There are a number of talented guys out here, they've got to show the winning mentality and not just win once, but win again and again and prove they can do this again and again."

Speaking to RTÉ's Greg Allen in November, Harrington insisted that he wouldn't change any decision or partnership, noting that many of the critics hadn't considered the rationale behind his decisions from all angles.

"It's easy when you're just picking on one