Colin Montgomerie appears to have thrown his hat into the ring to captain Europe at the 2014 Ryder Cup at Gleneagles.

With Europe originally having an "unwritten rule" of not asking captains to return for a second stint, it was assumed that one of Paul McGinley and Darren Clarke would get the nod.

However, the United States' decision to turn to Tom Watson has put a bit of pressure on the Europeans to pull something big out of the hat, and the media immediately linked Montgomerie with a return.

Clarke has all but ruled himself out of the race by saying "as much as I would dearly love to be captain this may not be my time".

McGinley has received the backing of world number one Rory McIlroy, but Montgomerie appears to be favourite and he won't say no to a second stint.

"Obviously, it would be a dream come true if I could be seen to be captain at home in Scotland," he said before heading the Middle East from South Africa.

"It will be a great honour. It seemed to be between Darren and Paul and now my name seems to be mentioned an awful lot, so we will see."

As for the demands of the job the eight-time European number one added: "It's a lot of time, a lot of pressure on family and you as a individual.

"The scrutiny when it's at home is a lot more. It's an invasion of your privacy and life."

Montgomerie has talked with Clarke following his announcement on Friday about the captaincy.

"I can fully understand where Darren is coming from, especially given the exemptions he still has into the majors (thanks to his 2011 Open win) as you want to use them when you can still play," he said.

"Because we're close friends he knows it took a year and a half out of my career.

"If you come back after a year and a half out you might not be able to use those exemptions to the same potential.

"I didn't think it would affect my golf the way it did - I've told him that. I was looking at leaderboards for other names and not my own.

"I was hoping that some were doing well as opposed to concentrating on my own game.

"And practice went out of the window - there's no time. It's a full-time commitment if you want to do it properly."

Golf 365