Colin Montgomerie

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Colin Montgomerie
Personal information
Full name	Colin Stuart Montgomerie OBE
Nickname	Monty
Born	23 June 1963 (1963-06-23) (age 46) Glasgow, Scotland
Height	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Nationality	Scotland
Residence	Dunning, Perthshire
Spouse	Eimear Wilson (1990–2006, divorced) Gaynor Knowles (2008–)
Children	Olivia, Venetia, Cameron
Career
College	Houston Baptist University
Turned professional	1987
Current tour(s)	European Tour (joined 1988)
Professional wins	40
Number of wins by tour
European Tour	31 (4th all time)
Best results in Major Championships
The Masters	T8: 1998
U.S. Open	2nd/T2: 1994, 1997, 2006
Open Championship	2nd: 2005
PGA Championship	2nd: 1995
Achievements and awards
Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire	2004
European Tour Order of Merit winner	1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2005
Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year	1988
European Tour Player of the Year	1995, 1996, 1997, 1999

Colin Stuart Montgomerie, OBE (born 23 June 1963) is a Scottish professional golfer often referred to by one of his nicknames 'Monty'. He has had one of the finest careers in European Tour history, having won a record eight Order of Merit titles including a streak of seven consecutively from 1993 to 1999, and 31 European tour victories, placing him fourth on the all time list. He is renowned also for both his extraordinary Ryder Cup performances as well as the dubious distinction of being one of the most accomplished players never to have won a major championship after finishing runner-up on five occasions. His career high world ranking is second.^[1]

[edit] Biography

Although Scottish by birth and ethnicity, he was raised in Yorkshire, England, where his father James was Managing Director of Fox's Biscuits.^[2] Montgomerie spent a number of years at the Ilkley Golf Club where he was tutored by the past professional Bill Ferguson. He was educated at both Leeds Grammar School and Strathallan School, Perthshire. During his time in Leeds, he became a supporter of Leeds United^[3] but still remains a loyal supporter of Glasgow Rangers. His father would later become the secretary of Royal Troon Golf Club, one of Scotland's most famous clubs. Montgomerie became one of the first British golfers to go to a United States college, attending Houston Baptist University. In later years, many top young British golfers (e.g., Luke Donald) would follow Monty's path to United States universities.

He won three important Scottish amateur tournaments — the 1983 Scottish Youths Championship, the 1985 Scottish Stroke Play Championship, and the 1987 Scottish Amateur Championship. He also played for Scotland twice in the Eisenhower Trophy (1984 and 1986) and for Great Britain and Ireland in the Walker Cup twice (1985 and 1987).

[edit] Career outline

Montgomerie turned professional in 1988, and was named the Rookie of the Year on the European Tour that season. He quickly developed into one of Europe's top pros, winning his first event at the 1989 Portuguese Open by 8 shots and making his Ryder Cup debut in 1991. He finished first on the European Tour Order of Merit every year from 1993 to 1999 (a record for most consecutive Orders of Merit) and has thirty one victories on the tour, including the 1998, 1999, and 2000 European PGA Championships. He first reached the top-10 in the Official World Golf Rankings in 1994 and spent almost 400 weeks in the top-10.^[4] His highest ranking was number two. In his prime Montgomerie was considered one of the best drivers of the golf ball in the world and became a very precise iron player, often able to judge the distance he hit the ball exactly from long range.

His form fell away gradually in the new millennium, partly due to marriage problems, and his ranking slumped to 82nd in the world, but he came back strongly in 2005, winning a record eighth European Tour Order of Merit and returning to the top ten in the World Rankings.^[5] Late in 2005 he became the first man to win 20 million Euros on the European Tour - topping the European Tour's all time highest earners list.

At the end of 2004, Montgomerie was named an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the New Year's Honours. He represents the Turnberry resort in Scotland, where there is a Colin Montgomerie Golf Academy.

[edit] Current form

After re-forming his partnership with caddie Alastair McLean in 2004, the pair split again on 10 June, a week before the start of the U.S. Open. With his new caddie, Craig Connoly, Montgomerie managed to win for the first time in nearly 2 years at the European Open in July 2007, silencing the critics who have asserted he would not win again.

However his form has once again deserted him and in mid-2008 Montgomerie slipped out of the top 100 players in the world ranking system. A second place at the French Open in June boosted him back up the rankings, but his good play has been short lived, and as a result Montgomerie failed to qualify for Nick Faldo's Ryder Cup team.

[edit] Major Championships

Montgomerie is generally considered to be one of the best golfers never to have won a major championship after finishing in second place on 5 separate occasions. During what most consider to be his best years in the 1990s Montgomerie had several close shaves. A third place at the 1992 U.S. Open would trigger several good performances in the event over the coming years. Indeed, it is at the U.S. Open where Montgomerie has certainly come closest to breaking his major duck. He lost in a three-man playoff to Ernie Els in 1994 at Oakmont (a playoff which also included Loren Roberts). Famously Montgomerie was left with only one shirt to play in during the Monday playoff, a dark tartan design, which did not help his cause in the very hot playing conditions. He shot 78 to Els and Roberts 74, Els eventually winning at the 20th extra hole.

Ernie Els was once again to get the better of Montgomerie three years later at Congressional Golf Club. Montgomerie's 65 in the opening round is considered to be one of the finest rounds in U.S. Open history, but a 76 in the second round brought him back to the field. A bogey on the 71st hole sent Montgomerie 1 behind Els who parred the last to win.

It is at the 2006 U.S. Open however where Montgomerie had his best chance to win his elusive first major. He stood in the middle of the 18th fairway in the final round having sunk a 50 foot birdie putt on the previous green which took him into the lead. During the wait on the 18th fairway for the group in front to finish Montgomerie switched his club from a six iron to a seven, assuming adrenaline would kick in. He hit a poor shot, coming up short and right into the thick rough. He pitched on and then three-putted from 30 feet to lose the tournament by 1 stroke. After the loss, Montgomerie said, "At my age I've got to think positively. I'm 43 next week, and it's nice I can come back to this tournament and do well again, and I look forward to coming back here again next year and trying another U.S. Open disaster."^[6]

At the 1995 PGA Championship, Montgomerie birdied the last three holes of the Riviera course in the final round to tie Elkington at 17 under par. In the playoff, after being in better position after two shots, Montgomerie missed his putt while Elkington holed from 35 feet to claim the championship.

Montgomerie has never performed well at the Masters tournament, his best finish being tied 8th in 1998. Some would say not surprisingly as great putting is not a strong feature of his game (this generally considered to be imperative in performing well at Augusta).

At the Open Championship it is only in recent years that Montgomerie has shown signs of competing at this championship. He started brightly in 2001 at Lytham and St Annes with an opening 65 and still remained ahead after 36 holes, but fell away over the weekend. He was also in contention with 2 rounds to play at Muirfield in 2002 and Troon 2004, but failed to capitalise and finished mid way down the field. His best finish in the Championship came in 2005 where he finished second to Tiger Woods, who beat him by five shots.

[edit] Ryder Cup and other team golf

Montgomerie practicing before the 2004 Ryder Cup

Despite his disappointments in the majors Montgomerie is heralded as one of the greatest Ryder Cup players of all time. To date he has been a member of the European team on 8 occasions and has never lost in a singles match. He holds a win-lose-draw record of 20-9-7, thus giving him a total points scored tally of 23.5, only 1.5 points behind the all time record held by Nick Faldo. He has played pivotal roles in several of the matches. He halved the last hole with Scott Hoch to obtain the half point that won Europe the cup in 1997 and sank the winning putt^[7] in what is considered to be his finest hour in the 2004 staging of the event.

Montgomerie was not part of Nick Faldo's 2008 Ryder Cup team with the wildcards going to Paul Casey and Ian Poulter.

Montgomerie captained the Great Britain & Ireland team in the first four stagings of the Seve Trophy, losing in 2000 but winning in 2002, 2003, and 2005.

On 28 January 2009, it was announced that Montgomerie will be the captain the European team at the 2010 Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor.^[8]

[edit] Relationship with the golfing public

Colin Montgomerie at the Austrian Open 2006

Montgomerie has often come under fire for his attitude on the golf course. He is noted for his lack of focus, and quite often becomes distracted by seemingly very minor incidents. As a result, it is quite commonplace for Montgomerie to ask scorers, marshalls, tv crew and members of the crowd to move or be silent during a round of golf. Compared to many of the other best players of his generation, this is quite unusual behaviour, as most other professionals tend to ignore these occurrences.

Due partly to his slumped shoulders, and droopy walking style, and wearing baggy pants, Montgomerie has also developed a reputation for being miserable on the golf course. When he is not playing his best golf, Montgomerie has down the years been quick to throw temper tantrums, often blaming those around him for his poor play. Despite this Montgomerie has become one of golfing public's most popular figures, and remains the fan favourite at the Open Championship, especially when it is held in Scotland.

Montgomerie's struggle to get on with the American galleries, is often cited as perhaps the reason he has failed to match his success in Europe with success in the United States.

[edit] Personal life

Montgomerie met his Scottish ex-wife Eimear Wilson, also from Troon^[2], when he was a good amateur and she was a promotions assistant. Eimear was a 17-year-old law student at Edinburgh University and a spectator at an amateur championship in Nairn, at which Montgomerie destroyed the field.^[9] The couple had three children (Olivia, Venetia, and Cameron), and lived in Oxshott in Surrey.

In 2002, Eimear gave Montgomerie an ultimatum to choose between golf and marriage, resulting in him spending 10 weeks alone before they agreed to try again. In 2006, the couple finally broke up, with Eimear suing for divorce on grounds of unreasonable behavior due to his obsession with golf,^[10] claiming it left her suffering from anxiety and depression.^[11] In February 2006, following strong but denied rumours that she had grown close to actor Hugh Grant, the couple agreed to a clean break divorce settlement of £8 million, in return for Eimear giving up any claim on Montgomerie's future earnings.^[12][13][14]

Since the divorce, he has had various relationships, including Spanish model Ines Sastre,^[15] and a divorced neighbor Jo Baldwin whom he met on the school run.^[16] Their split, he suggested, caused his worst run in his professional career.^[17]

In 2007 Montgomerie announced his engagement to Scottish millionaire Gaynor Knowles. The pair were married on 19 April 2008 at Loch Lomond Golf Club.^[18][19]

Montgomerie has been defended twice by celebrity driving solicitor Nick Freeman. The first time Montgomerie was acquitted when the policeman who was said to have caught him travelling at 96mph on the A3 near Esher, Surrey (a 70mph road) at 12:50am failed to attend court, making it impossible to prove that Montgomerie was driving. Freeman got him off a second time from a 56 day ban in November 2008, after Montgomerie was caught driving his Bentley Continental Flying Spur and failing to pay the fine. Freeman revealed that Montgomerie hated flying, and drove 55,000miles per annum in part to see his Surrey based children from his Scottish base.^[20]

In March 2009, Montgomerie played in his milestone 500th European Tour event at the Open de Andalucia where he played well and made the cut, but was not a factor on the weekend.

[edit] Golfing record

[edit] Amateur wins (3)

• 1985 Scottish Stroke Play Championship
• 1987 Scottish Amateur Championship

[edit] European Tour wins (31)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning Score	Margin of Victory	Runner(s)-up
1	22 Oct 1989	Portuguese Open - TPC	-24 (67-65-69-63=264)	11 strokes	Rodger Davis, Manuel Moreno, Mike Smith
2	4 Aug 1991	Scandinavian Masters	-18 (68-65-70-67=270)	1 stroke	Seve Ballesteros
3	25 Jul 1993	Heineken Dutch Open	-7 (68-73-71-69=281)	1 stroke	José Cóceres, Jean Van de Velde
4	7 Nov 1993	Heineken Dutch Open	-10 (69-70-67-68=274)	1 stroke	Darren Clarke
5	15 May 1994	Peugeot Open de Espana	-11 (70-71-66-70=277)	1 stroke	Richard Boxall, Mark McNulty, Mark Roe
6	21 Aug 1994	Murphy's English Open	-14 (70-67-68-69=274)	1 stroke	Barry Lane
7	28 Aug 1994	Volvo German Open	-19 (65-68-66-70=269)	1 stroke	Bernhard Langer
8	27 Aug 1995	Volvo German Open	-16 (69-64-68-67=268)	1 stroke	Niclas Fasth, Sam Torrance
9	10 Sep 1995	Trophée Lancôme	-11 (64-69-65-71=269)	1 stroke	Sam Torrance
10	17 Mar 1996	Dubai Desert Classic	-18 (67-68-67-68=270)	1 stroke	Miguel Ángel Jiménez
11	7 Jul 1996	Murphy's Irish Open	-5 (69-69-73-68=279)	1 stroke	Andrew Oldcorn, Wayne Riley
12	8 Sep 1996	Canon European Masters	-24 (64-71-61-63=260)	4 strokes	Sam Torrance
13	8 Jun 1997	Compaq European Grand Prix	-18 (69-68-68-65=270)	5 strokes	Retief Goosen
14	6 Jul 1997	Murphy's Irish Open	-15 (68-70-69-62=269)	7 strokes	Lee Westwood
15	25 May 1998	Volvo PGA Championship	-14 (70-70-65-69=274)	1 stroke	Ernie Els, Gary Orr, Patrik Sjöland
16	13 Sep 1998	One 2 One British Masters	-7 (70-72-70-69=281)	1 stroke	Pierre Fulke, Eduardo Romero
17	27 Sep 1998	Linde German Masters	-22 (65-68-66-67=266)	1 stroke	Robert Karlsson, Vijay Singh
18	16 May 1999	Benson & Hedges International Open	-15 (68-66-71-68=273)	3 strokes	Ángel Cabrera, Per-Ulrik Johansson
19	31 May 1999	Volvo PGA Championship	-18 (69-70-67-64=270)	5 strokes	Mark James
20	10 Jul 1999	Standard Life Loch Lomond	-16 (69-65-70-64=268)	3 strokes	Sergio García, Michael Jonzon, Mats Lanner
21	8 Aug 1999	Volvo Scandinavian Masters	-20 (67-67-65-69=268)	9 strokes	Jesper Parnevik
22	22 Aug 1999	BMW International Open	-20 (69-65-64-70=268)	3 strokes	Pádraig Harrington
23	7 May 2000	Novotel Perrier Open de France	-16 (71-68-65-68=272)	2 strokes	Jonathan Lomas
24	29 May 2000	Volvo PGA Championship	-17 (67-65-70-69=271)	3 strokes	Darren Clarke, Andrew Coltart, Lee Westwood
25	1 Jun 2001	Murphy's Irish Open	-18 (63-69-68-66=266)	5 strokes	Darren Clarke, Niclas Fasth, Pádraig Harrington
26	5 Aug 2001	Volvo Scandinavian Masters	-14 (66-69-69-70=274)	1 stroke	Ian Poulter, Lee Westwood
27	10 Nov 2002	Volvo Masters Andalucia	-3 (70-69-72-70=281)	Shared*	Bernhard Langer
28	21 Mar 2004	Caltex Masters	-16 (71-69-67-65=272)	3 strokes	Gregory Hanrahan
29	2 Oct 2005	Dunhill Links Championship	-9 (70-65-73-71=279)	1 stroke	Kenneth Ferrie
30	4 Dec 2005	UBS Hong Kong Open	-9 (69-66-66-70=271)	1 stroke	K.J. Choi, James Kingston, Lin Keng-chi, Edward Loar, Thammanoon Srirot
31	8 Jul 2007	Smurfit Kappa European Open	-11 (69-71-64-65=269)	1 stroke	Niclas Fasth

*Montgomerie and Langer agreed to share the 2002 Volvo Masters Andalucia, after failing light caused play to halt after two holes of a playoff.

Montgomerie also came first in the Volvo Bonus Pool every year from 1993 to 1998. The Volvo Bonus Pool was an extra tranche of prize money awarded at the end of each European Tour season from 1988 to 1998 to the regular members of the tour who had had the best performances over the season.

[edit] Other wins (9)

• 1996 Nedbank Million Dollar Challenge (South Africa - unofficial event)
• 1997 Andersen Consulting World Championship of Golf, King Hassan II Trophy (Morocco)
• 1999 Cisco World Match Play Championship (United Kingdom - not an official money event at that time.)
• 2000 Skins Game (United States)
• 2001 Ericsson Masters (Australia)
• 2002 TCL Classic (China)
• 2003 Macau Open (China)
• 2007 Omega Mission Hills World Cup (with Marc Warren)

[edit] Results in major championships

DNP = did not play
CUT = missed the half-way cut
WD = withdrew
DQ = disqualified
"T" = tied
Yellow background for top-10.

[edit] Summary of major championship performances

• Starts - 67
• Wins - 0
• 2nd place finishes - 5
• Top 3 finishes - 6
• Top 5 finishes - 6
• Top 10 finishes - 10
• Longest streak of top-10s in majors - 2

[edit] Results in World Golf Championship events

¹Cancelled due to 9/11
DNP = Did not play
WD = Withdrew
QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
"T" = tied
NT = No Tournament
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10.

[edit] Team appearances

Amateur

• Walker Cup: (representing Great Britain & Ireland) 1985, 1987
• Eisenhower Trophy: (representing Scotland) 1984, 1986
• St Andrews Trophy: 1986 (winners)

Professional

• Ryder Cup (representing Europe): 1991, 1993, 1995 (winners), 1997 (winners), 1999, 2002 (winners), 2004 (winners), 2006 (winners)
• Alfred Dunhill Cup (representing Scotland): 1988, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995 (winners), 1996, 1997, 1998, 2000
• World Cup (representing Scotland): 1988, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1997 (individual winner), 1998, 1999, 2006, 2007 (winners), 2008
• Four Tours World Championship: 1991 (winners)
• Seve Trophy (playing captain of Great Britain & Ireland team): 2000, 2002 (winners), 2003 (winners), 2005 (playing captain - winners), 2007 (winners)
• UBS Cup (representing the rest of the world): 2003, 2004
• Royal Trophy (representing Europe): 2010 (playing captain - winners)

[edit] See also

• Golfers with most European Tour wins

[edit] Notes and references

[edit] External links

• Official website
• Profile on the European Tour's official site
• Profile on the PGA Tour's official site
• Results in ranking tournaments for the last two years from the Official World Golf Rankings site

Colin Montgomerie in the Ryder Cup v • d • e European Ryder Cup Captains Great Britain 1927 Ted Ray · 1929 George Duncan · 1931 Charles Whitcombe · 1933 John Henry Taylor · 1935 Charles Whitcombe · 1937 Charles Whitcombe · 1947 Henry Cotton · 1949 Charles Whitcombe · 1951 Arthur Lacey · 1953 Henry Cotton · 1955 Dai Rees · 1957 Dai Rees · 1959 Dai Rees · 1961 Dai Rees · 1963 John Fallon · 1965 Harry Weetman · 1967 Dai Rees · 1969 Eric Brown · 1971 Eric Brown Great Britain & Ireland 1973 Bernard Hunt · 1975 Bernard Hunt · 1977 Brian Huggett Europe 1979 John Jacobs · 1981 John Jacobs · 1983 Tony Jacklin · 1985 Tony Jacklin · 1987 Tony Jacklin · 1989 Tony Jacklin · 1991 Bernard Gallacher · 1993 Bernard Gallacher · 1995 Bernard Gallacher · 1997 Seve Ballesteros · 1999 Mark James · 2002 Sam Torrance · 2004 Bernhard Langer · 2006 Ian Woosnam · 2008 Nick Faldo · 2010 Colin Montgomerie v • d • e European Ryder Cup team – 1991 Severiano Ballesteros · Paul Broadhurst · Nick Faldo · David Feherty · David Gilford · Mark James · Bernhard Langer · Colin Montgomerie · José María Olazábal · Steven Richardson · Sam Torrance · Ian Woosnam · Bernard Gallacher (non-playing captain) v • d • e European Ryder Cup team – 1993 Peter Baker · Severiano Ballesteros · Nick Faldo · Joakim Haeggman · Mark James · Barry Lane · Bernhard Langer · Colin Montgomerie · José María Olazábal · Costantino Rocca · Sam Torrance · Ian Woosnam · Bernard Gallacher (non-playing captain) v • d • e European Ryder Cup team – 1995 Severiano Ballesteros · Howard Clark · Nick Faldo · David Gilford · Mark James · Per-Ulrik Johansson · Bernhard Langer · Colin Montgomerie · Costantino Rocca · Sam Torrance · Philip Walton · Ian Woosnam · Bernard Gallacher (non-playing captain) v • d • e European Ryder Cup team – 1997 Thomas Bjørn · Darren Clarke · Nick Faldo · Ignacio Garrido · Per-Ulrik Johansson · Bernhard Langer · Colin Montgomerie · José María Olazábal · Jesper Parnevik · Costantino Rocca · Lee Westwood · Ian Woosnam · Severiano Ballesteros (non-playing captain) Miguel Ángel Martín qualified for the team, but was forced to withdraw though injury, with his place being taken by José María Olazábal. v • d • e European Ryder Cup team – 1999 Darren Clarke · Andrew Coltart · Sergio García · Pádraig Harrington · Miguel Ángel Jiménez · Paul Lawrie · Colin Montgomerie · José María Olazábal · Jesper Parnevik · Jarmo Sandelin · Jean Van de Velde · Lee Westwood · Mark James (non-playing captain) v • d • e European Ryder Cup team – 2002 Thomas Bjørn · Darren Clarke · Niclas Fasth · Pierre Fulke · Sergio García · Pádraig Harrington · Bernhard Langer · Paul McGinley · Colin Montgomerie · Jesper Parnevik · Phillip Price · Lee Westwood · Sam Torrance (non-playing captain) v • d • e European Ryder Cup team – 2004 Paul Casey · Darren Clarke · Luke Donald · Sergio García · Pádraig Harrington · David Howell · Miguel Ángel Jiménez · Thomas Levet · Paul McGinley · Colin Montgomerie · Ian Poulter · Lee Westwood · Bernhard Langer (non-playing captain) v • d • e European Ryder Cup team – 2006 Paul Casey · Darren Clarke · Luke Donald · Sergio García · Pádraig Harrington · David Howell · Robert Karlsson · Paul McGinley · Colin Montgomerie · José María Olazábal · Henrik Stenson · Lee Westwood · Ian Woosnam (non-playing captain)