A veteran of eight Ryder Cups as a player, Monty created the ideal team atmosphere and was ably assisted by not one but five vice-captains. The sight of Darren Clarke, Sergio Garcia, Jose Maria Olazabal, Paul McGinley and Thomas Bjorn striding the fairways supporting their respective groups was in stark contrast to Valhalla, where Faldo was aided only by Olazabal and a bloke called DJ Spoony, who was called in to handle "cool, chilling music duties" in the team room.
Underlined by his decision to send McDowell out last in Monday's singles, Europe's captain was pretty much spot on with both his pairings and the order in which they appeared. When things didn't work out, like on the first day when a struggling Padraig Harrington contributed little to his partnership with the in-form Luke Donald, he wasn't afraid to shake things up a little. In this case, Harrington joined forces with Ross Fisher, a rookie, while Donald went off again with first Ian Poulter and then Lee Westwood. The result was an invaluable four points.
