Colin Montgomerie

Lore & Background

Montgomerie won three consecutive Volvo PGA Championships at Wentworth Club between 1998 and 2000. He has finished runner-up on five occasions in major championships and his career-high world ranking is second. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2013. After turning 50 in 2013, Montgomerie has had a successful career on the PGA Tour Champions and European Senior Tour, including winning three senior major championships.

In Their Own Story

The wind off the North Sea was doing its worst at Turnberry, and the gallery at the 17th had thinned to a few hardy souls hunched into their anoraks. Montgomerie stood over a 14-foot putt, the kind that would make a sensible man chip to the middle of the green and take the two-putt. He didn't. He set up, took a breath that fogged in the cold air, and stroked it with a follow-through that said he'd already seen it in the cup. It lipped out. The gallery groaned. He didn't groan. He picked up his putter, looked at his caddie, and said something short and flat that the caddie understood without translation. Then he walked back to the 18th tee, where the next opponent was still deciding whether to play it safe, and Montgomerie was already thinking about the angle off the fairway. That was the thing about him — the loss was already forgotten before the ball had even stopped rolling.

Reader's Guide

Montgomerie is generally considered to be one of the best golfers never to have won a major championship, after finishing in second place on five occasions. His best finish in the Masters Tournament came in 1998 when he finished tied for 8th. He lost playoffs at the 1994 U.S. Open and 1995 PGA Championship, and was runner-up at the 1997 and 2006 U.S. Opens. At The Open Championship, his best finish was second in 2005.

Did You Know?

• Montgomerie won a record eight European Tour Order of Merit titles, including seven in a row from 1993 to 1999.
• He never won a PGA Tour event.
• He finished runner-up in five major championships but never won one.
• After turning 50, he won three senior major championships on the PGA Tour Champions.