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Newport - Captain Colin Montgomerie showed his humorous side on Wednesday by instigating a prank in which a few of his European Ryder Cup players donned Rory McIlroy wigs.
The 21-year-old McIlroy, known for his jet black curly locks, stepped on to the first tee and was welcomed by team mates Graeme McDowell, Martin Kaymer, Luke Donald and the four caddies all sporting comedy perms.
Montgomerie said later that he wanted to lighten the mood around the Northern Irishman whose recent comments about world number one Tiger Woods have been used to ratchet up a rivalry in the tabloid newspapers this week.
McIlroy, the youngest member of the home team, suggested at the recent WGC-Bridgestone Invitational that most of Europe's players would fancy their chances against the out-of-form American.
"I think Rory was quite upset with the comments that were made in the papers this week about this Tiger situation," Montgomerie told reporters during practice. "It was getting out of hand tabloid-wise.
"So what we decided to do was find seven wigs - God knows how people do that but they do, especially ones looking like that - and the caddies and players that were playing with him decided we'll get Rory on the first tee and make him feel part of the team again.
"That was the right thing to do. He played magnificently today so we're all back on level terms again," added Montgomerie.
Fellow rookie Kaymer, the US PGA champion, said McIlroy appreciated the joke.
"On the putting green, before we went to the first tee, (my caddie) pulled out that, how do you call it in English, a wig?," said the German.
"Everybody put them on and we played the tee shot with it. Rory's the youngest and I think he was very happy about it."
Photo: AFP
