Day of intrigue as Montgomerie takes lead in Ryder captain race

The European Tour last night vowed to "fully investigate any evidence of irregular betting activity" that saw Colin Montgomerie backed into favouritism as Europe's next Ryder Cup captain. The burgeoning scandal is threatening to blot the stunning appointment of Nick Faldo's successor which will be made in Dubai in two weeks' time.

It was a day of deep intrigue in the desert when first Montgomerie all but admitted he would be ready to step into the role at Celtic Manor and later when it was revealed that Jose Maria Olazabal had withdrawn from next week's Qatar Masters because of rheumatism. It was there that the Spaniard had reportedly been due to meet with influential player committee members who would try to persuade him to give up on his quest of making the 2010 team as a player.

It is now believed that the committee will wait no longer for Olazabal and will instead turn to Montgomerie, who is ready to give up on his playing hopes, as well as on his previously stated desire to take on the captaincy in his native Perthshire in 2014. Even by the long and colourful history of the Ryder Cup this has been a quite staggering development, although what was truly causing the tongues to wag during the second round of the Abu Dhabi Championship was the gamble that had allowed the identity of the captain out of the bag.

Before the players' committee meeting here on Tuesday, where Montgomerie was apparently urged to fill the breach, the Scot had been as high as 50-1 in the betting. Ladbrokes suspended trading on the market before the meeting, obviously fearing that word would leak out. "We thought it would be prudent to do so," explained the firm's spokesman, Robin Hutchison, yesterday. "Knowledge is power in bookmaking and if people know more than us we tend to make our excuses and sit out the dance."

In fact, only Betfair, the betting exchange, continued to quote prices after the all-important meeting and on Wednesday watched as the 45-year-old's odds plummeted to 2-1. Yesterday those odds fell further – at one stage, to less than 1-2 – as those on Olazabal proceeded to drift. "Until yesterday [Wednesday] it seemed that this was going to come down to three people – Ian Woosnam, Jose Maria Olazabal and Sandy Lyle," said Tony Calvin, the Betfair spokesman. "Clearly, someone has had a whisper that Mr Montgomerie was in the mix."

Betfair have offered to comply with the European Tour should they "have any concerns" and will be able to reveal exactly who placed which bet and when. The European Tour should most definitely have concerns, if not because of the relatively small amounts of money concerned then certainly in the embarrassment this affair could yet cause. The 12-strong panel at the meeting, which lasted for three and a half hours, were all sworn to secrecy, as were the 10 or so officials in attendance. One of the reasons for this was because the powers-that-be wanted to let the candidates know themselves and not have those such as Lyle find out through the press. Instead, they have seemingly found out through the betting markets. A quite spectacular backfire.

In his statement yesterday, George O'Grady, the Tour's chief executive, claimed that "no decision on the Ryder Cup captain has so far been taken" and while this is technically correct it is understood that Montgomerie has been offered the position. A vote will still be necessary before the announcement on the Wednesday of the Desert Classic – but this should be a mere formality. This would then free up Olazabal to take charge at the 2012 match in Chicago and many see the popular 42-year-old as the perfect captain on American soil. Yesterday, Olazabal's manager, Sergio Gomez, revealed that "he was sounded out four weeks ago by Thomas Bjorn as to whether he would be interested or not, and since then he has heard nothing".

Meanwhile, Montgomerie – after a highly commendable 67 which left him on five-under, six behind the leaders Richard Green and Graeme Storm – confessed he would be prepared to take the reins. After being asked whether he would prefer to play in Newport he replied: "All I have ever said about the Ryder Cup is that I would like to help the cause in any way, shape or form. I would have loved to have helped the cause in 2008 but wasn't given the opportunity. And I would like to help the cause in 2010."