on tour
‘Major’ Monty still beat himself up
career I could take again – and have taken
again a million times in my mind’s eye –
it would be my seven-iron from the 18th
fairway in the fourth round.”
David Newbery
[email protected]
B
The media loves Monty because, whether
he’s in contention or not, there’s a headline
waiting to be written.
Y winning the recent Senior
PGA Championship, Scot Colin
Montgomerie has finally put to bed the
“one of the best players never to win a major”
tag.
That’s because the five-time runner-up in
majors (three US Opens and once each at the
US PGA and Open Championship) has always
been vocal.
Okay, it’s not a major on the regular tour but
that’s not stopping the 51-year-old claiming it
as a major breakthrough.
He would talk about losing weight, blowing
a US Open, slam the design of a hole or chat
about splitting with his coach.
“I’m a major champion and will treat it
as such,” he said. “It might have a ‘senior’
connotation to it, but it is a major.”
One mis-hit shot on the course or question
in the media centre could change his mood
from charming and smiling Monty to grumpy
Monty.
Montgomerie’s career is littered with
highlights … and the odd disappointment.
In him prime, he was a dominant figure in
Europe winning eight European Tour Order of
Merit titles, 42 professional tournaments (31
on the European Tour) and a Ryder Cup record
any player would be proud.
He reached number two in the world and
his European Tour earnings are more than €24
million ($A36m) with only Lee Westwood and
Ernie Els ahead of him.
Majors aside, Montgomerie is a Ryder Cup
legend.
As a player, he represented Europe eight
times and helped win the contest five times.
For Monty, majors were secondary against
the Ryder Cup.
“Were I to win the Open, or any one of
the majors, I’d be thrilled,” he wrote in his
autobiography MONTY.
Oftentimes, he would turn up to the media
centre uninvited just to make a statement.
Once, mid-round, he stormed into the
tournament office to express dissatisfaction
at the course condition.
Colin Montgomerie rates winning the Ryder Cup above all other tournaments (Photo: Montana Pritchard)
“The US Open at Winged Foot is the major
near-miss which can still wake me up in the
middle of the night,” he said.
In the final round, he stood in the middle
of the 18th fairway joint leader with Phil
Mickelson.
That’s when things started to go awry.
“But it wouldn’t come close to how I felt
when I was presented with the Ryder Cup in
2010 at Celtic Manor (Wales).
“If I tell you that I can remember every shot
I have hit in a Ryder Cup, it will go some way
towards explaining how much this biennial
contest means to me.”
On the other hand, Monty continues to beat
himself up over the lost opportunity at the
2006 US Open won by Australian Geoff Ogilvy.
His playing partner Vijay Singh hit his drive
in the trees and among the hospitality tents
and required a lengthy ruling.
“The referee was called and it must have
been 15 minutes later that Vijay finally played
his second,” Monty explained.
“In hindsight, I shouldn’t have waited. I
should just have played my shot.
“Throughout this delay, I had been
standing over my ball and thinking. I was
beginning to second-guess myself. Was it a
seven-iron? Was it not a six? Did I detect a
touch of wind?”
Montgomerie decided on a seven-iron and
hit his approach shot poorly, short and right
and in thick rough.
He hacked it out, leaving himself a
10-metre downhill putt.
“I don’t know how it rolled 12 feet past,”
said Monty of his first putt. “The return for a
five would have put me in a playoff. Instead, I
walked off with a double-bogey six.
“In the four other majors in which I was
runner-up, I had been beaten. In such
circumstances, you shake hands with the
opposition and say, ‘Well played’.
“This time around, I beat myself. I was good
enough to win and I blew it.
“To this day, if there was one shot in my
But at regular intervals, there was victorious
Monty.
Now the Senior PGA champion believes he
can win a major on the PGA Tour.
Monty is targeting the US PGA
Championship at Valhalla in August.
“Yes it’s a long course, but at the same
time the emphasis there will be hitting the
fairways and greens,” he said.
“If I can hit 17 greens in regulation around
Harbour Shores, like I did in that last round
of 65, I can compete at that level again. I will
do my utmost to put up a good showing as a
Senior PGA champion.”
Did we mention competitive Monty?
FOOTNOTE: Before turning pro,
Montgomerie, who was inducted into the
World Golf Hall of Fame in 2013, considered
a career in sports management, utilising his
degree in business management and law.
The firm he applied to convinced him to
become a client rather than an employee. •
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