Monty sees reflection of himself in on-course leader Lee

The Scot did, with a birdie on the first against Scott Hoch that set a famous Belfry win in motion.

At the start of the 38th Ryder Cup, Montgomerie used the lessons of the past by calling on Lee Westwood to do exactly the same.

"I've played the most Ryder Cups of anybody and (Montgomerie) just said to me he wanted somebody to set the the tone for the days (ahead) and so he sent me out early and I tried to do that by coming out fast," said self-effacing Westwood last night after his second win of the week at the top of the order inspired Europe to an unprecedented thrashing of the Americans.

The 37-year-old will become the world's No 2 golfer today when the new rankings are published. By a quirk of the system, if he stays at home in Worksop over the next two weeks Westwood will overtake Tiger Woods to become the best player in the world.

"It says everything that he'll be playing the next couple of weeks despite that," said Montgomerie.

Westwood may not have the majors to his name, but he has pretty much everything else, including a Ryder Cup record he could sell to any American player.

His Ryder Cup record against the man he could soon displace is: played seven, won six, lost one.

Such big scalps serve as a reminder to his less-experienced colleagues that no one is infallible. He leads by example and has taken Montgomerie's instruction to heart, inspiring his team-mates.

Padraig Harrington, talking of the dressing room mood ahead of yesterday's play, said: "Lee posted a notice on the doorway (which the players could see) as we walked out about just how to expect that the US would start fast and that we were going to have to be equally up for it."

Westwood is almost certain to be a future captain of the European Ryder Cup team – he is even speaking in the diplomatic tones required of a figurehead.

"I think first and foremost there are 12 men on this team," was his response to a question about his added responsibilities this week.

"There's nothing like seeing a few blue numbers on the board to get everybody else going and make everybody else a bit more comfortable.

"It's a very strong team all the way through."

Strengthened considerably by the man at its head.