Montgomerie follows his best round of the year with a play-off victory in California

Colin Montgomerie closed with a brilliant 63, which equalled his best round of the season, before beating longtime rival Bernhard Langer in a play-off to win the Invesco QQQ Championship. Montgomerie holed a 40-foot birdie putt on the last in his nine-under-par lastday surge up the leaderboard in California after starting out five shots behind 36-hole Retief Goosen of South Africa.

That gave the big Scot a 14-under-par 202 total, which was matched a few groups later by Senior Open champion Langer as he signed off with a 67, the duo finishing a shot ahead of both Goosen (69) and American Billy Andrade (64).

In the play-off, Langer took four shots to get out of a greenside bunker due to the back lip hindering his swing and took six to reach the green at 18.

That meant a two-putt par 4 was good enough to give Montgomerie victory in the second of three events in the Champions Tour’s Charles Schwab Cup play-offs.

“How often does that happen with Bernhard?” said Montgomerie afterwards. “I felt for him in that bunker there.”

It was the 56-year-old’s seventh title triumph on the Champions Tour but first since landing the SAS Championship just over two years ago.

The three-time Senior major winner sparked his last-day charge by making four birdies in the first four holes to be out in 32.

He then followed a chip-in birdie to start the back nine with an eagle 3 at the 11th before capping a sensational effort by picking up two shots in the final three holes. “Eleven was key,” admitted Montgomerie. “Ten, when I chipped in, was a very good chip, but kept me going.

“Eleven, hangon, i’m suddenly leading. From third, fourth, suddenly boom, I’m leading now. So, there’s a whole different feeling and then the one at the last was a massive bonus.”