A win in paradise, then home for Christmas
Monty was in scintillating form in Mauritius. The paradise island in the Indian Ocean being the backdrop for the final event on the European Senior Tour calendar. The mighty Scot finished birdie, birdie, birdie at Constance Belle Mare Plage to win the MCB Tour Championship (11-13 December) with a score of 15-under par (68-64-69), three shots ahead of David Frost (South Africa). One shot further back was Englishman Paul Eales.
It was probably something that players on the European Senior Tour had been dreading for a number of years: Monty turning 50! The Scotsman reached senior status in 2013 after a phenomenal career on the European Tour which included 31 victories and the incredible achievement of winning seven Order of Merits in a row (1993-1999). He went on to clinch an unprecedented 8th money-list title in 2005.
While scaling down his activities on the main tour from ten events in 2013 to just three this year, Monty was busy getting into the swing of things, over-50’s style. He took less than a year to settle into the 54-hole routine on the Senior Tour (72 holes for Majors).
During his Rookie season in 2013, he won a modest 115,366 euro’s to finish 11th place on the Order of Merit. A year later, the Glaswegian seized the money-list title with earnings of nearly 625,000 euro’s. And now, after his victory in Mauritius, he has also won the John Jacobs Trophy for the second year running with season’s earnings of nearly 680,000 euro’s. Now that doesn’t sound too bad for a year’s golf, does it? Yet it’s amazing to realise that back in 2005, the year in which he won his 8th Order of Merit title on the European Tour, that he earned his biggest prize cheque ever that season. The event was the Dunhill Links Championship. His prize: 662,415 euro’s.
Stepping out of his own shadow
It’s a fact. Colin Montgomerie is back knocking the pins out of golf holes all around the world. On the par-72 Legend Course at the Constance Belle Mare Plage Resort in Mauritius, he added another ace to his collection on day two when he holed his 8-iron tee-shot at the 164-yard signature hole surrounded by water – the par 3, 17th. He signed for a round of 64 to equal the course record. But that’s not all. During the tournament in Poste de Flacq, on the east coast of Mauritius, he was 9-under par for the last three holes: a tally of 1 eagle (the hole-in-one); 7 birdies and 1 par! Yes, Monty is every bit a force to be reckoned with, even at 52.
A blaze of Ryder Cup glory
Yet, despite a blaze of Ryder Cup glory, both as a player with an impeccable track record of being unbeaten in eight singles matches against America and also as captain of the winning European team in Wales in 2010, his outstanding career was always slightly blighted by the fact that he had never won a Major Championship. Much to the relief of Monty, his family and friends, and his golf fans around the world, he finally put this to right in 2014. In America last year, he became a double Major Champion, winning both the US Senior PGA Championship and the US Open. His new Senior career has already seen him win eight titles, so far …
Wendy Hoad
Pictured: Colin Montgomerie with the John Jacobs Trophy, one of two trophies he was presented with in Mauritius.