Colin Montgomerie in contention for 2014 Ryder Cup captain

Colin Montgomerie and Paul McGinley are the favourites for the European Ryder Cup captaincy, which will be decided by the 15-strong tournament players’ committee meeting in Abu Dhabi at 1530 GMT.

Originally thought to be a straight battle between Paul McGinley and Darren Clarke, however, Monty’s name has only recently been brought into the mix after Clarke hinted he would prefer to concentrate on playing.

Montgomerie who was the winning 2010 captain, is seen by some as a bigger name than McGinley and better able to oppose America’s Tom Watson.

“It would be a dream come true if I could be seen to be captain at home in Scotland,” said Montgomerie.

Dubliner McGinley who played in three Ryder Cups and holed the winning putt at The Belfry in 2002 was initially the popular choice with support from double major winner Rory McIlroy, Luke Donald and Justin Rose.

World number one McIlroy tweeted on Sunday:  “RC captaincy should be a one-time thing… Everybody deserving gets their chance and moves on… Would love to play under Paul McGinley in ’14,”.

He may not have achieved as much individual success as eight-time European number one Montgomerie, but it is widely felt he did enough as a vice-captain and as Britain and Ireland’s two-time winning Seve Trophy captain to indicate he has the ability to lead Europe.

Montgomerie, the eight-time Ryder Cup veteran, had previously said he felt players should only hold the captaincy once.

But the prospect of the 49-year-old taking over from the winning 2012 captain Jose Maria Olazabal is gaining support.

“It will be a great honour,” added Montgomerie, who amassed 23½ points in the Ryder Cup and was unbeaten in singles.