Monty win would be sentimental

Candidly honest about his personal and professional life, Colin Montgomerie enters the British Open a sentimental favorite.

Updated: July 14, 2004, 1:20 PM ET

By Tim Rosaforte | Golf Digest

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TROON, Scotland -- The two men were leaving the clubhouse at Royal Troon on Wednesday night, rain spitting in their face. "Scotland in July," one man commented. "Cold and Rain." The other man said, "Aye." Collars up they walked toward the R&A tent, where Colin Montgomerie was still receiving handshakes for the speech he just delivered. It was late, but Monty was in no hurry to leave.

One of the traditions at the Open Championship is the Association of Golf Writers (AGW) Dinner. It brings together a Who's Who of golf - Prince Andrew, Tim Finchem, Sir Michael Bonallack, Sergio Garcia, defending champion Ben Curtis, Ryder Cup captain Hal Sutton and PGA Championship host Herb Kohler

As Monty says, "You can take the boy out of Troon, but you can't take Troon out of the boy."

were on the guest list -- but it is more of a men's smoker, attended by women, where souls are bared, the humor is sharp and, in Montgomerie's case, self-deprecating. Monty was called upon to deliver a speech as a "guest speaker," when in fact he was the hometown boy. He began by saying, "You can take the boy out of Troon, but you can't take Troon out of the boy," and for the next 15 minutes he had the tent enthralled.

It was on the very spot that he learned the game. Born the son of Troon's secretary, Monty carved out a legendary career as a larger-than-life character who came along just as Europe's Big Five of Seve Ballesteros, Nick Faldo, Bernhard Langer, Sandy Lyleand Ian Woosnam were heading to their twilights. He was more than just a seven-time winner of the European Tour's Order of Merit. He was the tragic loser of two major championship playoffs, Scotland's only begotten champion and an all-world quote machine. Good or bad, right or wrong, Monty has always been tremendous copy. Now, as he approaches twilight, majorless, a bachelor again, back at Troon, it's hard not to get sentimental about his chances.

"Honest," was the review given by caddie Dave Musgrove, a four-time major winner. Monty made references to his slump, his divorce, his ex-wife's solicitor, his loss of weight and his relationship with the tabloids. "When I play well they refer to me as British," he said. "When I play poorly, I'm Scottish."

Dropping to 71st in the world, he earned one of the last spots for this championship in a qualifier at Sunningdale, advancing in a playoff. He broke a two-year losing streak in March by winning the Caltex Singapore Masters and is reduced to shameless lobbying to make his eighth Ryder Cup team. The captain is former Ryder Cup partner Bernhard Langer. He wants Langer to know how hungry he is to be at Oakland Hills in September. "I'd only require one seat on the plane," he said.

After trying to patch-up his marriage, Monty is resigned to Eimear's decision to end their relationship. It has made him realize you don't heat baked beans in the microwave without removing them from the tin. Hearing of their break up, former Open champion Sandy Lyle commented that his wife served him a week before the 1988 Masters. To expect Montgomerie to win the Open Championship, at age 41, at Troon, would be idyllic. Nobody knows the course better. "You better be three-under at the turn," he warns. His best finish in an Open occurred down the Ayrshire Coast at Turnberry in 1994. That T-8 was his only top-10 in 14 British Opens. His best chance was at the midway point at Royal Lytham in 2001. Going into the weekend well positioned after rounds of 65 and 70, he came home in 73-72 to tie for 12th. Last year at Royal St. George's he withdrew.

The R&A was feeling cheeky with the pairings and put Monty together with Thomas Björn. Twice in the last six months they have twice raised swords in competition, at the Volvo Masters last August at Valderrama and again at the Johnnie Walker Classic in Bangkok in late January. Björn, who opened the door of opportunity at last year's Open for Ben Curtis, has been Monty's Ryder Cup teammate long enough to understand the man.

"With my temper and Colin's temper it just comes out," said Björn of their confrontations. "A lot of people would have dealt with it differently but we've spoken about it and everything is as it was before. It's not a question of saying, 'sorry.' It's a question of saying what we felt happened out there and we are going to play a lot of golf together. We've got to make sure it doesn't happen again. I have no bad thoughts about the person. I really don't."

You really can't. It's just the Troon in the boy. It's just Monty.

Tim Rosaforte is a senior writer for Golf World magazine