Bill Bridge: Harrington in spotlight as Ryder Cup battle gets blown out of all proportion

Our Ryder Cup this year puts Colin Montgomerie firmly in the spotlight, not only over his choice of players but also for his reputation as a bomb waiting to explode amid the genteel diplomacy of the old event.

Then there is the issue of whether or not the second Mrs Monty shows up in the Usk Valley, not to mention how the most powerful individual in the American team – captain Corey Pavin's other half Lisa – will react should, heaven forbid, she does not have everything just as she wants it.

Throw in the latest episode in the Tiger Woods saga – there are sure to be a few choice soundbites of advice for the errant one from the galleries – and the nature of the battle itself, pitting ego against ego in a game which lags only slightly behind football, tennis and motor racing in terms of producing pampered prima donnas and the scene is set.

Pressure? It will be apparent from the flag-raising ceremony – another piece of pseudo-drama we could do without – to the moment the winning captain is thrown, Cup held high, into the lake by the 18th green on Sunday (the prospect of Monty being dunked brings tears to the eyes).

Captains – and their ladies – apart, the pressure to perform will perhaps weigh heaviest on the shoulders of Padraig Harrington, the man Montgomerie preferred to Paul Casey when he had to make his wild-card selections.

Harrington, as the world and his caddie knows, has not played well for two years, perhaps shorn of his ambition by winning three major titles in rapid succession. Casey has been a fierce competitor for most of the year on the US PGA Tour and is ranked well above the Irishman on the world stage.

There are suggestions that Monty is barely on speaking terms with Casey, whereas Harrington is an old and trusted mate (as well as a former Ryder Cup partner), that the rest of the team are not concerned at his absence. They will not have to worry about that when the golf starts in earnest.

Harrington will. He knows that every shot he hits will be under scrutiny and that should he not win every point he contests there will be those who will point to him – three times a major winner though he is – as the weakest link in Europe's team.

That is unworthy; it is an indication, too, of how much the Ryder Cup has been blown out of proportion since Tony Jacklin and Severiano Ballesteros gave Europe expectation of victory rather than resignation to yet another defeat.

For all the fake glitz given to this week's competition, it is simply the latest episode in what was intended to be nothing more or less than an opportunity for the best golfers of the United States to meet their counterparts from this side of the water, give them an opportunity to test themselves in matchplay – still the best form of golf – and to get to know one another over a meal, a drink and a chat then continue on their way through life.

It was not meant to be a major event, one which demanded acres of print and hour after hour of television – John Logie Baird's monster was in its infancy back in the days of Sam Ryder – and was certainly not meant to be hoisted alongside the Open Championship of the respective countries.

In that respect Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and – it is strongly suspected – many others who will be taking part at Celtic Manor come the weekend are right.

The Ryder Cup is a break from the real business; certainly it is important, but nowhere near as much so as those with vested interests would have us believe.

YOU can be sure that the dust from this summer's disastrous coming together of the cricketers and authorities of England and Pakistan will not settle for a while yet.

The issue of redress sought by Andrew Strauss and his team following the claims from Ijaz Butt, chairman of the Pakistani Board of Control, that England's players took bribes to lose a one-day international, compounded by suggestions that the home side have demanded financial compensation as well as an apology from Butt and the contention from former umpire Darrell Hair that "Pakistan cricketers show no respect for the game and continually attempt to cheat" all make up a recipe for months of suspicion and accusation.

With the International Cricket Council apparently trapped in a mire of their own making, the England and Wales Cricket Board riven by a desire to see justice done to their team without damaging the bridges they have been trying to build with Pakistan since that country found itself unable to stage international cricket in its own cities and the Pakistanis apparently happy to keep digging themselves deeper into trouble, there is no end in sight.

There is no indication of where the required leadership might come from to resolve the various problems and put the whole shoddy business to bed; mistrust is everywhere.

Far better to look forward to the winter, the WACA, the Gabba, SCG and all the rest; cricket as we know it has come through again. Until the next time.

AND ANOTHER THING...

THERE has been a mix of concern and sympathy – at least in some quarters – for Ricky Hatton since his ignominious fall from grace.

There is no doubting Hatton's right to a place in British boxing's pantheon of top fighters – although he was only fleetingly in the highest bracket – but his decline after defeats to Manny Pacquiao was a blow to the boxing game.

At least he retained a little of the ring craft he had acquired during his days as "The Hitman" and took himself out of harm's way. The wrath of his formidable mother Carol would have been something to behold had she managed to give him the embrace he obviously needed at the time of his descent.

As the doyenne of Glossop market, where her carpet stall is one of the major attractions for bargain and autograph hunters alike, Carol Hatton has forged a reputation equal to that of her son as one not to be messed with.

Ricky might re-emerge in public with image restored after he has undergone that special kind of treatment only a distraught mother can administer to one who has gone off the rails.