D Tuesday, October 13, 2009 METROSPORT 21 Picture: EPA Colin MontgoMerie believes vic- tory in next years ryder Cup at Celtic Manor would be all the sweeter should the USA side contain tiger Woods. Woods, who missed the USAs compre- hensive 2008 victory in Kentucky after knee surgery, will be a key part of Amer- icas bid to retain the trophy. the world no.1 was in ominous form during the weekends Presidents Cup in San Francisco, posting a perfect five- from-five points return as the USA beat greg normans international team. it will be difficult enough to try to re- gain the ryder Cup without tigerWoods, never mind if he is back to his top form and winning five points out of five, said the european captain. it makes our job even tougher, so we have to counteract that by playing as well as we can against him and also the other 11 players on that team. But it makes it a better win if we can regain the ryder Cup with tiger Woods on it. europes 16-11 defeat in America last year meant an uneasy ride for cap- tain nick Faldo, prompting claims he did not enjoy the same rapport with his play- ers as previous european captains. Montgomerie added: one of the rea- sons i was asked to become ryder Cup captain was because i was still in a play- ing capacity. nick had not played for a number of years really fully on the tour, and i think found it more difficult, there- fore, to communicate with the team on a day-to-day basis. Monty targets Tigers scalp at Celtic Manor Leading men: Montgomerie, right, joins USA captain Corey Pavin at Celtic Manor yesterday Couples reveals secret to Ryder success CommuniCation and teamwork will be key to the united States retaining the Ryder Cup in Wales next year, according to Presidents Cup-winning captain Fred Couples. the uS beat the international side 19.5 to 14.5 at Harding Park in San Francisco on Sunday with captain Couples getting the best out of the worlds top three players tiger Woods, Phil mickelson and Steve SPORTDigest Head and shoulders: Haye wants Valuev to just wash and go Title challenger Haye taunts smelly Valuev BOXING: David Haye called Nikolai Valuevs personal hygiene into question before decapitating a lifesize cut-out of the Beast from the East to promote next months WBA heavyweight clash. Word around the campfire is he doesnt smell too sweet, said Haye. He leans on you, tries to brawl and comes out with a really hairy chest, the stench is disgusting. The 28-year- old said he hoped to get under the giant Russians skin to the point where the champion steps into the Nuremberg ring with real hatred clouding his vision. I always fight better when my opponents angry, Haye, who decapitated a cardboard cutout of Valuev at a press conference yesterday, added. I relish that, I need him to come out there and throw a lot of punches. I thrive off that excitement and that anticipation before a fight. Tour winning drug fight CYCLING: A scandal-free 2009 Tour de France with no positive doping tests proves cycling has changed for the better, director Christian Prudhomme said yesterday. For the first time since I joined (Tour de France organisers) ASO in 2004, I had a peaceful month of July and nothing came out between August 10 and 20, Prudhomme said, referring to this years Tour and the high-profile doping cases that have tarnished it in recent years. This means that the fight against doping is working, he added. Australia wild for Henin TENNIS: Former world No.1 Justine Henin has been granted a wildcard for next years Australian Open. The 27-year-old, who won the event in 2004, will take her place at the season-opening grand slam following a warm-up event in Brisbane. It will be the Belgians first major tournament since announcing her retirement from the game in 2008. Tournament director Craig Tiley said: Justine is the ultimate competitor and we are looking forward to welcoming her back. Yankees earn Angels test BASEBALL: The New York Yankees beat the Minnesota Twins 4-1 on Sunday to complete a three-game sweep of their division series and set up an AL Championship Series against the LA Angels. The Angels rallied to beat the Red Sox 7-6 in Boston to complete a sweep of their own. We want to win a World Series, Yankees pitcher Andy Pettitte said. We took a step here to move on. Were going to have a nasty series. Its going to be a war between us and the Angels. Blake braced for Nadal TENNIS: American James Blake has set up a second meeting in a week with top seed Rafa Nadal after withstanding an onslaught of 27 aces from Croatian Ivo Karlovic to win their Shanghai Masters first-round match 3-6, 7-6, 6-3. Blake (pictured) lost against the world No.2 last week and was under no illusions about what he faces. I know what Im in for, he said. I know how much he makes you run. Later, Fernando Gonzalez reached the second round after German Mischa Zverev retired injured. golf RYdER CUP BY PETER REGAN Stricker in a way many american Ryder Cup skippers have failed to do in the past. asked what knowledge he would pass on to 2010 captain Corey Pavin, Couples said: i knew what to say to these 12 guys, to be quite honest. i picked a couple guys out, started texting them, talking to them, and they performed really, really well the last four or five weeks. So i would tell Corey to bother them. text them, make fun of them, make them feel like they are going to get ripped a little bit and make them feel like they are not going to hit every shot perfect. Victory: Couples So Ferrari, so good as Massa makes return formula oneFELIPE MASSA was back in the drivers seat of a Ferrari F1 car for the first time yesterday since his horrific accident when he fractured his skull in qualifying for Julys Hungarian Grand Prix. After driving an F2007 in Italy, Massa said: It went very well. What happened in July has not changed anything. Massa had hoped to be fit for the last F1 race of the season in Abu dhabi on November 1 but is now focused on next season. Everything has returned to how it was before the accident. It was as if Id never stopped, he added. I am still the same as before and that makes me happy, for me and for the team. index.html2.html3.html4.html5.html6.html7.html8.html9.html10.html11.html12.html13.html14.html15.html16.html17.html18.html19.html20.html21.html22.html23.html