RETURN OF TIGER
Monty: My highlight is Woods’ Atlanta win. To see outpouring of emotion... we never saw that, even in Majors
LIKE wide-eyed kids trailing the Pied Piper of Hamelin, they followed in their droves.
Hypnotised, transfixed by the uniquely powerful lure of golf ’s greatest phenomenon proving that after all these years this game still dances to his tune.
The images of Tiger Woods taking his final steps to a longawaited comeback victory still lives with Colin Montgomerie as he reflects on a thrilling year gone by and anticipates a mouthwatering new year of drama.
For if the spine-tingling scenes that heralded Tiger’s stunning victory at the Tour Championship in Atlanta in September captured the imagination, imagine what it would mean if he did it in four months’ time at Augusta National – or any other Major stage for that matter.
At Carnoustie last July we caught a tantalising whiff of what it would mean to golf and the fans who follow the game he transformed during Woods’s legendary decade of dominance at the turn of the century.
Stepping on to the back nine on the last day of The Open with his name top of the leaderboard, a wave of excitement engulfed the Angus links like a tsunami.
In the end it wasn’t to be his day, as another force of nature in the relentless drive of his playing partner Franceso Molinari overpowered all before him. Just as he would do again to Tiger and the rest of the US Ryder Cup team when he swept five out of five points from his matches at Le Golf National in September.
Given the achievements of Molinari and Brooks Koepka – with his successful US Open defence and US PGA victory – there’s no doubt others had more impressive seasons.
Yet ask Monty who made the biggest impact, what moment captured the heart and stirred the blood like no other could, and he doesn’t hesitate.
He said: “The highlight was Tiger’s win in Atlanta. To see the outpouring of emotion from everybody, him, the crowd. God Almighty, we never saw that, even in any Major.
“The scenes were unbelievable. He had such incredible support from everyone because they all thought they’d never see him win again.
“When you saw him pulling out of all those events, you’d think, ‘Come on, Tiger. Cut your losses and do something else’.
“But he was determined to do this and did it. And who says that come Augusta time he won’t be in contention? That would be great for the game.
“We were very lucky when we had Tiger and Phil (Mickelson) but Tiger especially. We then got lucky that when he had his demise, his place was taken up by the guys like Rory (McIlroy), Jordan Spieth, Justin Rose, Jason Day, Dustin Johnson. “But they all know and we all know there is still only one man who can inspire what we saw in Atlanta. That wouldn’t happen with anybody else. “And imagine Augusta - if he gets into that position in The Masters and does this again. Nobody thought he could win a tournament. Now he’s got to be thinking, ‘Well, nobody thought I could win a Major either’.
“This will be some event. And it’s great that he’s in the fold.
Yet there were warning signs in the wake of that win, his first PGA Tour triumph in five years, not to expect Woods ever to dominate in the manner of his glory days. Plunged straight into
“People turn on their TV and the one score they look for is Tiger Woods. It’s the one score we all look for. It’s superb for the game that he’s back again.”
the Ryder Cup the following week Woods looked utterly spent.
The psychological upper hand a winning Woods was supposed to bring to the US team never materialised as the Europeans, particularly his nemesis Molinari, wiped the floor with him in four pointless appearances.
But Monty doesn’t read too deeply into that when he assesses Woods’s chances of contending in the Majors with a schedule tailor-made for him to peak at the right times.
He added: “Emotionally he was drained at the Ryder Cup. You could see it. And a few of his colleagues were as well.
“If they can plan ahead for the next Ryder Cup I don’t think they’ll go straight from Atlanta to Whistling Straights. That was a disaster for the US team. They put everything into these FedEx tournaments and then, ‘Oh, I’m on a bloody plane to France. Christ!’ It was their downfall.
“Added to that Le Golf National did not suit them. They had been playing courses that were way open, all about length and all about birdies.
“Then they come to a course where par is a good score and they failed. They couldn’t hit the fairways. You have to say the main difference between the PGA and European Tour is course set-up and it proved that.
“So I think you’ll find in 2020 they have a break after the Tour Championship. They’ll need it, or else the same thing could happen again whereby they’re emotionally spent.”
Montgomerie was speaking as he hosted a golf clinic at Braid Hills Golf Centre in Edinburgh for sponsors Aberdeen Standard Investments.