The cat is finally out of the bag. There need be no further discussions as to who will captain the Europe team in the 2014 Ryder Cup in Scotland. Colin Montgomerie all but admitted here at Loch Lomond, on the eve of the Barclays Scottish Open, that he will lead the home team in the biennial match against the United States at Gleneagles. Now that this appears to have been sorted out, all that remains is to decide who will be in charge at Celtic Manor in 2010 and Medinah Country Club in 2012.

For months the issue of the captaincy of the next three Europe teams has been a matter of conjecture. Might Ian Woosnam be persuaded to have a go in Wales in front of his countrymen in two years’ time, having been so successful in Ireland in 2006? That would leave José María Olazábal for the 2012 match in the US, which would not be an appropriate place for Montgomerie to be in charge, given his poor relationship with fans there.

But what about Thomas Björn, who is thought to want Olazábal to be captain in 2010 so that he can be in the running to lead in 2012? There is some sympathetic support for Sandy Lyle on the ground that he has been overlooked so far. Intriguingly, one name mentioned for 2012 is Darren Clarke, who will be 44 then and would not want for supporters among the players or the public.

“I will do my utmost to play in 2010 and 2012 and do something else in 2014,” Montgomerie said yesterday.While those words hardly suggest an arrangement inscribed in stone, it is hard to believe that one of the central characters in this story was not telling it as it is likely to be.

Montgomerie, who will be 51 in 2014, was a busy man yesterday. He also apologised to the Sky Sports technician to whom he was rude during last week’s European Open, promising to write a letter of apology. “You know what I’m like,” Montgomerie said. “I say things on the spur of the moment, but I don’t mean them.”

The advantage of being the event before the Open Championship is that you get a decent field. Phil Mickelson, the world’s highest-ranked active player in Tiger Woods’s absence, is joined by two others from the world’s top six, Adam Scott, ranked No 3, and Ernie Els, ranked No 6. Lee Westwood, the winner of this event in 1998, is here, as is Ángel Cabrera, the 2007 US Open champion. The downside of being an event staged in the second week of July is that most people have their mind on next week's Open.