For a few short days the world’s golfing spotlight will centre on Newport as golf’s finest players clash.

“When you talk about the first of October, it links in with Wales, Celtic Manor, Ryder Cup,” Montgomerie said.

“Now we are within a year and it’s amazing how quickly that year will pass and I look forward to every moment.”

Montgomerie admits that so far the bulk of his involvement has involved making decisions on the minutiae of preparations – clothing, bags, waterproofs, shoes, accommodation, locker rooms.

But the Scot, an ever-present Ryder Cup player between 1991 and 2006 who was undefeated in eight singles matches, is now looking forward to team matters.

“We’re just ready to look after the team now and view their qualifying process really to see who’s going to make that top nine and give me a good idea of who I’m going to select as my chosen three,” Montgomerie said.

Montgomerie’s team will comprise the leading four players from the world points list, plus the leading five players – not otherwise qualified from the worlds list – from the European points list.

Those nine automatic selections will be joined by three captain’s picks to complete a 12-man squad that will be finalised by the end of next August.

The recent Vivendi Trophy that pitted Britain and Ireland against Continental Europe was an ideal environment for Montgomerie to look at potential players in a team environment.

The 46-year-old made his disappointment known publically that Ian Poulter had pulled out, while other European luminaries such as Lee Westwood, Justin Rose and Sergio Garcia did not play.

Montgomerie realises that players have many options when it comes to choosing what tournaments to compete in, but has pinpointed three that he hopes potential Ryder Cup players will attend.

“I have nothing against Ian, I think he’s a worldwide player,” Montgomerie said.

“It was a message to everybody that… there are three tournaments next year that I would really wish those players that are potential Ryder Cup players and potentially part of my team to participate in.

“One is our flagship event – the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth – the other is the last counting event – which of course is the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles – and the third is the… Wales Open.”

The Wales Open is played on the new Twenty Ten course at Celtic Manor that will be used for the Ryder Cup and Montgomerie says his selections may be swayed by one strong showing in the dry run at Newport next June.

“Wouldn’t it be great if one of those players, one of those potential candidates, goes to Wales and wins the tournament by 10 shots – it would be very difficult to leave him out!

“It’s in their own interests to play in that event and… show me what they can do round the Ryder Cup course.”

Welsh golfer Bradley Dredge – currently second in the European points list – has said he is determined to grasp a “once in a lifetime” opportunity to represent Europe on home soil.

The same will be true of Dredge’s fellow World Cup-winner Stephen Dodd, while Philip Price – one of Montgomerie’s fellow heroes of the 2002 triumph at The Belfry – could possibly figure in the backroom staff.

However, it may well be that – despite Montgomerie’s wishes for a Welshman to force his way to selection – there is no home-soil player in the European team next October.

But the organisers are determined that next year’s event will push golfing excellence in Wales to try and ensure that Ryder Cup teams of the future always have a Welsh element.

Andy Morgan, a board member of Ryder Cup Wales 2010 and chairman of Golf Development Wales, wants the event to spark a golfing renaissance.

“When the Ryder Cup was in Spain in Valderamma [in 1997], when they left there, there really wasn’t anything left apart from the roadway,” Morgan said.

“We were very keen, and the Welsh assembly government was very keen, to have a real legacy from the Ryder Cup.

“The Welsh assembly government put forward a £2m fund that was part of our bid that won the Ryder Cup.

“With that we want to create beginner facilities all around Wales… so it really isn’t just the Celtic Manor, this Ryder Cup is going to bring developments throughout the whole of Wales.”

Schemes in place include free taster sessions, reduced or free golf lessons and trial memberships to attract more players to the game, while individual golf clubs have been able to access funds to improve facilities.

Despite the Ryder Cup still being 12 months away, golf participation among 11 to 16-year-olds has risen an impressive 70% in the last two years, with juniors and adults up a healthy 20%.

Those figures include a sharp rise in female participation, so the women’s Solheim Cup team may also reap future benefits.

The efforts to promote grassroots golf are set to continue for “years” beyond next October, so it seems the future of the game is bright regardless of the result at the Celtic Manor next October.

But if Europe avenge their 16½-11½ defeat in Valhalla to the USA in 2008, the momentum could prove unstoppable. – Bbc

New Ferrari signing Fernando Alonso says he would like to follow in Michael Schumacher’s footsteps and win multiple world titles for the team.

The Spaniard has signed for three years and will partner Felipe Massa in 2010.

“It will not be easy but I would like to do the same as Michael and win many championships with Ferrari,” he said.

“It is going to be very difficult but I am in the best team for my career. We share many things, like the passion for competition and giving 100%.”

Asked if he woulod be able to live up to the legacy of Schumacher, who won five of his record seven titles with Ferrari, Alonso said he was not going to Ferrari “to do the same as Michael, but I would like to do the same.”

Ferrari have this season had their least competitive year since 1995, and have won just one race, courtesy of Kimi Raikkonen, who is leaving the team to make way for Alonso.

The team have abandoned developing their current car to concentrate on next year’s model, and Alonso said he was optimistic Ferrari would be competitive from the first race of 2010.

“Hopefully we can fight for races and championships from next year. I do not know what we can do together but I will put all my input and experience there and I will be working for Ferrari 365 days a year.

“I know there will be pressure to win titles. It is not enough one win a year. In the next few years hopefully there will be one at least. Hopefully we can fight until the last race.

“You’re never sure. We saw in F1 this year it is difficult to predict what is going to happen the year after but Ferrari has been dominating F1 for the last 10 years.

“It is the most famous, most popular team in the world and you become a legend when you drive that car whatever the performance is. It is very attractive to drive for Ferrari.” – Bbc

NEW YORK (AP)—Michael Vick(notes) is back with Nike two years after the company severed ties over the quarterback’s involvement in a dogfighting ring.

“Mike has a long-standing, great relationship with Nike, and he looks forward to continuing that relationship,” his agent, Joel Segal, said Wednesday.

Segal would not reveal terms of the agreement. Nike declined a request for comment.

The deal was announced during a panel discussion at the Sports Sponsorship Symposium by Michael Principe, the managing director of BEST, the agency that represents Vick.

The endorsement is the latest step forward for Vick as he seeks to rehabilitate his career and his image after serving 18 months in federal prison. On Sunday, Vick played his first regular-season game since December 2006.

“It is quite evident that athletes that run afoul of the law are by no means relegated to obscurity when it comes to pitching products,” said David Carter, a professor of sports marketing at the University of Southern California.

Vick signed with the Philadelphia Eagles on Aug. 13. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell gave him his full reinstatement Sept. 3, saying he could return to the field in Week 3.

Vick participated in 11 plays, accounting for 30 total yards, in the Eagles’ 34-14 win over the Kansas City Chiefs, as Philadelphia tries to use him in a variety of ways as a backup.

Nike, which signed Vick as a rookie in 2001, terminated his contract in August 2007 after the Atlanta Falcons star filed a plea agreement admitting his involvement in the dogfighting ring. At the time, Nike called cruelty to animals “inhumane, abhorrent and unacceptable” and halted release of his fifth signature shoe, the Air Zoom Vick V.

Back when Vick first signed with the Eagles, Carter had said he was “too toxic for most companies to even consider taking a chance on him.” What’s changed? As Carter noted Wednesday, there has been little backlash to the quarterback’s return to the NFL.

Protests have been limited, and the Eagles’ sponsors have stood by them. That experience could make companies less wary about adding Vick as an endorser, though the biggest determinant might be no different from any other athlete: how well he performs on the field.

Retailer Dick’s Sporting Goods said earlier this month that it wasn’t carrying Vick’s Eagles jersey in any of its 300 stores as a business decision.

But Paul Swangard, managing director of the Warsaw Sports Marketing Center at University of Oregon, isn’t surprised that Nike re-established its relationship with Vick.

“Nike has a history of supporting athletes. I think they are supporting an athlete who still garners attention,” Swangard said. “This is about Michael Vick as the athlete not Michael Vick the prisoner. … When he is inside the lines of the field he is an exciting football player and that’s what a brand like Nike can tap into.”

Vick signed a $1.6 million deal with the Eagles, with a team option for the second year at $5.2 million. He was once a corporate star—holding multimillion dollar deals to market everything from sneakers to sports drinks. But those millions are long gone.

In July, Vick filed for bankruptcy protection while serving his sentence, saying he owed between $10 million and $50 million to creditors.

To Carter, Nike likely made a calculated business decision that the benefit of sales tied to Vick outweighed any potential public outrage.

Vick must still have some selling power if the company is getting behind him, he said. “Nobody understands their consumer and has their finger on the pulse of their consumer like Nike does.” – Yahoo

Provided the 40-year-old seven-time world champion can prove his fitness – and the German is a man who prides himself on his conditioning – he will line up against reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton for the very first time at the European Grand Prix in Valencia on Aug 23.

The announcement, which will have Ferrari’s hardcore tifosi drooling, came just 24 hours after the German driver’s manager, Willi Weber, said he was “200 per cent sure” his client would not race in Valencia.

That bold prediction was made to look rather foolish at about 6pm on Wednesday.

“Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro intends to entrust Michael Schumacher with Felipe Massa’s car until the Brazilian driver is able to race again,” Ferrari announced on its website.

“Michael Schumacher has shown his willingness and in the next few days he will undergo a specific programme of preparation at the end of which it will be possible to confirm his participation in the championship starting with the European Grand Prix.”

The question is: why? Schumacher, who most certainly does not need the money, said as recently as three weeks ago that he had no intention of making a comeback in a sport he bestrode like a colossus for 15 seasons.

And as Weber pointed out, the most successful F1 driver of all time, a man with 91 grand prix wins to his name, is not one to settle for second best. “When Michael was racing he would get as close to perfection as possible,” Weber said on Tuesday. “In this case, it would not be perfection; it would be a gamble – and that’s not Michael’s style.”

Schumacher clearly has other ideas. Although he said his decision was inspired by a sense of duty to a team for whom he still acts as an advisor following Massa’s horrific crash during qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix last weekend, he admitted that he was also motivated by the challenge of competing against a new generation of drivers in a new machine.

“It is true that the Formula One chapter has long been closed for me but for team loyalty reasons I can’t ignore this unfortunate situation,” Schumacher said of his close friend Massa, who is expected to miss the rest of the season despite his rapid recovery from a life-threatening skull fracture.

“The most important thing first: thank God, all news concerning Felipe is positive, and I wish him all the best again.

“This afternoon I met with team principal Stefano Domenicali and Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo and together we decided that I will prepare myself to take the place of Felipe.

“As the competitor I am, I also very much look forward to facing this challenge.”

The subtext was clear; with Ferrari beginning to look as if they are capable of challenging for race wins for the first time this year, Schumacher clearly believes he can add to his incredible tally of victories.

And with McLaren’s Hamilton having notched his first victory of 2009 in Budapest last weekend, the mouth-watering prospect of their first-ever showdown awaits in Valencia, a race which produced a distinct lack of fireworks on its debut last year.

And what effect might Schumi have on Jenson Button’s world title bid? How ironic would it be if he cost his old technical director Ross Brawn, now spearheading Brawn GP’s march to glory, the constructors’ championship?

The whole season has just been given a fresh twist – as if it needed it.

First Schumacher must prove his fitness. Since retiring in 2006 he has occasionally taken part in motorcycle events and in February he suffered neck and back injuries in a bike accident.

His spokeswoman Sabine Kehm warned on Tuesday that those injuries could affect his ability to drive an F1 car which places huge pressures on the neck because of the varying G-forces.

However, when the German sets his sights on something, he has an enviable record of achieving it and with the four-week mid-season break stretching ahead of him, he has plenty of time to shed a few pounds.

Massa’s recovery from a life-threatening skull fracture, meanwhile, continues to go swimmingly. The Brazilian left intensive care and walked around his bed on Wednesday for the first time since his crash. His private doctor, Dino Altmann, also allayed fears over eye damage said he was certain Massa would be able to race again. – Telegraph

In a deal that seems to have been years in the making, Ferrari has finally made an official announcement: Fernando Alonso will be driving for the Prancing Horse in 2010. Rumors of Alonso going to the team from Maranello started back during the Spaniard’s first stint with Renault, but circumstances with driver lineups didn’t allow for it. Instead, Alonso went to McLaren for one very unhappy season before returning to France.

Since then, Alonso’s fortunes have been mixed and stories of the Italian job have persisted. According to official statements from Ferrari today, an agreement had been reached earlier in the summer for Alonso to move to the Italian team in 2011. However, recent circumstances with the so-called Crashgate fiasco and the departure of team boss Flavio Briatore and sponsor ING have caused the date to be moved ahead a year. Alonso’s Ferrari deal runs for three years.

As expected, current driver Kimi Raikkonen will be departing a year before the end of his contract, although his future remains uncertain. Recent rumors have had him returning to McLaren, although earlier this year it was thought he might switch to the World Rally Championship. – Autoblog

The 20-year-old, who is third on the European money-list, would have to compete in 15 events on the PGA Tour if he makes the move.

“The way the schedule is, it makes it a little bit easier for me to play in America next year,” said McIlroy.

“I’m in no great rush to join the PGA Tour but the opportunity might not be there forever.”

McIlroy could earn a card automatically through winnings earned in 2009 US Tour events.

He was third in the US PGA Championship and fifth in the Accenture Matchplay World Golf Championship.

McIlroy added: “There’s no rush all round because I have to make my decision before 1 December. I’ll be making it before then.”

The Holywood player’s focus this week is on the Dunhill Links Championship in Scotland

European money-list leader Martin Kaymer and second-placed Paul Casey are both absent, recovering from injuries.

McIlroy, who finished third in the 2007 tournament to earn his tour card not long after turning professional, can go top even if he finishes second.

He plays with his father Gerry in the pro-am format event over St Andrews, Carnoustie and Kingsbarns courses, starting on Thursday.

“It’s a big deal for me this week and the Race to Dubai will be in the back of my mind all week but first and foremost I’ve got to get my dad round,” joked McIlroy. – Bbc