It was just like old times at the K Club on Sunday. Colin Montgomerie had a beam as broad as the Irish Sea on his face. Even his jowls seemed to be wobbling happily. Not even the foul weather nor the prospect of an imminent flight back to London could dampen the spirits of the Scot. Montgomerie, for so long the dominant golfer in Europe, was being hailed as a champion again. His victory in the Smurfit European Open ended a 19-month drought and reminded us that even at 44 he can still cut it on occasions. It hadn’t happened in Britain since October 2005.
In the past two weeks the Scot has jumped from 33rd to 6th in the Order of Merit and from 48th to 30th in the world rankings. “That’s more like it” Montgomerie said. “This is a new era for me. It means an awful lot to me, less than a month after the US Open, to come back and lead after 68 holes last week and lead here, fabulous to come back that way so strong and prove some critics wrong and that I am still capable of winning. I have proved it again. I have proved it to myself and hopefully I can do it again. It is just great at 44 to come back and win again as sometimes that is the end of one’s career.”
He repeated on Sunday what he had said after the second round, namely that he felt he was playing as well as he had been in 1999 which is when he felt he played the best golf of his career. A small voice of dissent is in order here. Good as Montgomerie’s performances have been these past two weeks, when he finished 3rd in France and 1st in Ireland, they haven’t been in the same class as the golf he played eight years ago.
For one thing he is eight years older. For another I doubt he would have let the lead slip from his grasp when within sight of the finishing line as he did in France, taking the lead after 68 holes and then let Graeme Storm get past him. Then there is the matter of his two iron shots at the last two holes at the K Club. They weren’t vintage Monty, circa 1999 either.
The first was his tee shot on the 17th, which was saved from rolling into the guardian water by a band of thicker grass around the green. Even so, his ball was four feet from a watery grave. The second was the 6 iron he hit on the 18th, the par 5 that had been shortened to a par 3. This was rather a weak shot, the ball tailing off to the right and stopping within inches of rocks that surrounded the pond.
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On the other hand Montgomerie proved that when he can putt he is among the best in Europe. He used a belly putter at the K Club, prompted to do so by having putted poorly in France and hearing Mark Roe, the former tour player, saying on television that had he used the long-handled putter in France he would have won. “You pay attention to that sort of thing and so I thought “well, I’ll give the belly putter another go,” Montgomerie said. And it worked. Never mind the seven birdies he had in his 65. He must have putted well on those holes. But he holed out courageously on the 71st and the 72nd holes, particularly the 72nd.
A strong Montgomerie is good for European golf. It gives him hope that the Ryder Cup at Valhalla, St Louis, in September 2008 may not be beyond his grasp. And a Montgomerie walking with his head up and a smile occasionally on his face is much more uplifting than a grumpy Montgomerie, one whose head is down, who makes playing golf look as though it is a chore he would rather do without.