Par for the course

Barroso’s golfing joy.

Never let it be said that European Commission President José Manuel Barroso is slow to climb aboard a bandwagon – or a golf cart.

Within 30 minutes of Team Europe securing victory over the United States in golf’s Ryder Cup, his office had put out Barroso’s message of congratulation to team captain Colin Montgomerie – even though the Commission president was supposed to be spending that afternoon attending the Asia- Europe summit and welcoming the prime ministers of Australia and Vietnam.

Barroso even attended the Ryder Cup opening ceremony last week, thereby ensuring that the first day of competition would be ruined by mist and rain.

Cynics might attribute his close attention to proceedings at Celtic Manor in Wales to his being the ex-prime minister of Portugal, whose wobbly economy is increasingly reliant on golf. But that would be to concentrate on the economic and miss the political: Barroso will know that the EU-US summit is to be held in Lisbon next month – a splendid opportunity to replay the Ryder Cup highlights on every available TV screen.

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