Bernhard Langer, the 2004 Europe Ryder Cup captain, said last night that Colin Montgomerie has a decent case for being handed one of the wild cards for next month's match in Kentucky.

Padraig Harrington, the Open champion, suggested in the aftermath of his triumph at Royal Birkdale on Sunday that Montgomerie should be one of Nick Faldo's picks and Langer appeared to echo those sentiments on the eve of the Senior Open Championship at Royal Troon. Montgomerie is fifteenth on the Ryder Cup qualifying list, outside an automatic spot.

“He's not far away and if he's that close. he'll be a more obvious pick than a rookie,” Langer said of Montgomerie, to whom he gave a wild card in 2004, when Europe beat the United States 18-9 at Oakland Hills, Michigan, and the Scot earned the winning point. “But I know how hard it is being Ryder Cup captain. You might have four or five guys chasing two places and the hardest part of the job is saying to a player, 'I'm sorry, you're not going to be a part of this.' So I don't envy Nick for that.” Montgomerie, Ian Poulter, Ross Fisher, Nick Dougherty and Paul Casey are outside automatic selection places.

Langer, 50, is playing in his first Senior Open, after finishing second in the US Senior PGA Championship in May. One of his main rivals will be Greg Norman, who said last week that he was treating the Open Championship at Royal Birkdale as a warm-up for Troon. Some warm-up it turned out to be as Norman, 53, came close to becoming the oldest winner of a major championship. Three days later, however, the Australian preferred to hail his performance at Birkdale in adulatory terms. Self-belief is a prerequisite in professional sport, which is why Norman dwelt on what he did achieve, rather than did not, at Birkdale, where he lost a two-stroke lead after 54 holes with a final round of 77.

Norman said that he had been inundated with messages of congratulation for his Open performance, including one from Severiano Ballesteros. “I've received some phenomenal e-mails - maybe 700 of them - and that has been very special,” Norman said. “To get those accolades has meant a lot. I received a very powerful e-mail from Seve, in which he expressed his admiration for my shot-making. I know I didn't win the golf tournament, but I still feel I enjoyed a lot of mini-victories, not only within myself but in other areas as well. I thought I put on a very impressive performance.”

And yet, when he was pushed on whether he was agonising over what he might have achieved at Birkdale - he would have been the oldest winner of a major championship - he revealed more tender feelings. “Oh, it hurts, absolutely,” Norman said of finishing in a tie for third place. “Deep down, there's no question of that. When you are a sportsman in the arena, no matter what age you are, and you give yourself that kind of opportunity, you want to win. I would love to have won the Open, but the golfing gods weren't shining on me.

“I'm still human, I still feel it. To be a part of the history of golf is special and it will be interesting to see how the 2008 Open at Birkdale will be remembered, just as the 1996 Masters [in which Norman had a six-stroke lead over Nick Faldo going into the final round, but lost to the Englishman by five strokes] has been remembered in different ways by different people.”

While Norman is having to banish thoughts of a major championship that got away, returning to Royal Troon will bring other memories flooding back. In the 1989 Open there, he produced a final round of 64 to force his way into a three-man play-off, only for Mark Calcavecchia to prevail.

As a result of his performance at Birkdale, however, Norman has been invited to play in the USPGA Championship at Oakland Hills next month and will give his answer today. Playing tournament golf, however, remains low among his priorities. “I'm in a nice place in my life now with Chrissie [Evert, his new wife],” Norman said. “I can waltz into a place like Birkdale and be realistic about my chances. Yes, I still want to win, but at my age you can be honest about yourself.”

Playing with Norman, and Tom Watson, for the first two rounds at Troon will be Sandy Lyle, who attempted to draw a line under his Birkdale experience yesterday. Lyle caused consternation by walking off the course after ten holes of the first round at the Open, having stumbled to 11 over par.

“I've had niggling problems for two years with sore hands and knuckles and that was the problem,” Lyle said. “My knuckles were numb at Birkdale and I just couldn't continue. I regret what happened a little bit, but I was suffering out there. I've written a letter to the R&A and I'd like to move on. I think my reputation is pretty good. I hope this thing will blow over.”