THIS MUCH I KNOW: COLIN MONTGOMERIE
Colin Montgomerie
Colin Montgomerie ponders the question: Did he under- or over-achieve in his career?
He is a man who needs no further introduction. So without further ado, we proudly present the world according to Colin Stuart Montgomerie...
At the end of the day, golf is not about how well you play, it’s about how well you score. When I was paired with Tiger in the third round of the Open at St Andrews in 2005, I said to myself, “How are you going to beat Tiger Woods today, Monty?” Christ, I’m not going to outdrive him. I’m not going to hit better iron shots. I’m not going to chip as well. I’m not going to putt as well. I’m probably not as strong mentally, so how the hell am I going to beat him? I told myself: “I’m going to beat him by scoring lower than him today”. And I did. I shot 70 and he shot 71.
When I first came out on Tour, I’d walk up and down the range and think to myself, “Woah, I can’t compete with these guys – they’re hitting it miles.” Then I’d see that the players who I thought were incredible ball-strikers had shot 74 or 75 and in the first round and I’d think, “What happened? I’m not hitting it as well as them, but I’ve just shot 68 or 69.” I’ve discovered over the years that the guys who make it are those who can shoot 69 or 70 on their bad days. Great ball-striking is like possession in football. It means bugger all if you lose. I was always the 22 percent possession man. But scoring is everything.
When I hired Denis Pugh as my coach in the ’90s, the first thing I said was, “Right, Denis, I’m coming to you, but I don’t want you to change anything.” I just wanted to find out where I was aiming. A great lesson for me with Denis was, “Yeah, Colin, it all looks fine.” A lot of coaches feel they have to say something, but Denis was wise enough to say nothing. It gave me confidence and belief.
We never had launch monitors like Trackman or GC2 in my day, but I always had an innate ability to swing the club according to how far I wanted to hit it. It didn’t matter to me what number was on the bottom of the club. I wasn’t interested if it said 5-iron or 7-iron. All I was trying to do was hit it 178 yards. I didn’t have a big ego.
People say the biggest strength of my game was my distance control with my irons, but the only reason I was able to do that was because I was in the fairway o the tee. You can’t hit an iron shot pin-high from the rough. You can only do that with a good
lie. Yes, my iron play was good, but my driving was better.
The only time I’ve ever really been ‘in the zone’ was at the Portuguese Open in 1989. I won by 11 shots. The hole was like a bucket. I eventually stopped lining up the putts – and they still went in. It hasn’t happened since.
I won my first two European Tour Order of Merits using ladies’ flex shafts in my irons. I’d have carried on using them if it wasn’t for Nick Faldo. Playing together in the 1995 Ryder Cup, he said to me, “Let’s look at these irons a minute”. He looked them over and said, “My God, Monty, what the hell are these? They’ve a hell of a flex.” I had them tested on the Tour truck and discovered they were ladies’ A-flex. It was a huge error to test them. As soon as I found out, they were out the bag the next week.
My game was just perfect for the US Open. At Congressional in ’97, I was playing the best golf of my life and leading the tournament when I had an encounter with a couple of fans that sent my career in America into a downward spiral. I shot 65 the first day. The second day, though, there was a rain delay. A couple of fans had had a drink and I made the mistake of answering back. I said something like, “Save it for the Ryder Cup”. Pretty harmless, but it was caught on camera. It cost me that US Open. I had three rounds in the 60s but the 76 on day two was just too high. A 75 and I’d have made a play-off.
That mistake caused me problems for about 10 years.
It was especially difficult because I was No.2 in the world to Greg Norman and it was amplified further because I’d also become a big threat to the Americans in the Ryder Cup at that time. Do I regret it? Yes. But if you reach my age with no regrets, something’s gone wrong.
Going to university in America was the best decision I ever made in my career.
But I didn’t go just to play golf. I actually wanted to get my degree. I wanted the option to be able to stop playing if things weren’t working out. I hate the word ‘journeyman’ but if I had been one, I would have walked away from the Tour. To me, it was make it big or nothing.
I first realised I would be able to make a good go of professional golf after my first year at Houston. I was there for just nine months when I came home for the 1984 British Amateur. I lost to José Maria Olazabal in the final. There was no way I’d have reached that final if I’d stayed in the UK.
I’ve had 10 top-10 finishes in majors. Did I overachieve or underachieve? If you’d told me at the start of my career that would be my record, I’d have said I’d overachieved. But when you get to No.2 in the world and spend nearly a decade in the top 10, you have to say that 10 top 10s in the majors isn’t really as good as you’d have hoped for.
Of the five runner-up finishes I’ve had in majors, I was beaten by the other player in four of them. At the 2006 US Open at Winged Foot, however, I beat myself. On the final hole, Vijay Singh (playing in the group ahead) had to take two drops and took about 10 minutes to play his approach while I was standing in the middle of the fairway waiting to play. It was a shame.
I’m convinced that if I’d hit that shot in real time I’d have won. I was in the perfect position in the fairway. The pin was on the right side and I fade the ball. It was easier for me to birdie that hole than it was for me to doublebogey it – but that’s what happened.
AT THE ’97 US OPEN, A COUPLE OF FANS HAD HAD A DRINK AND I MADE THE MISTAKE OF ANSWERING THEM BACK. THE CAMERAS PICKED IT UP AND IT UNRAVELLED FROM THERE.
What I remember most about the US Open at Oakmont in 1994 was the heat. Even now, people still talk about that summer being the hottest ever. I always felt in America that if I led the putting stats, I would win because I hit the fairways and I hit the greens. And I did lead the putting stats at Oakmont that week… and I didn’t lose. Over 72 holes, nobody beat me.
The play-off on the Monday was a poor day for me. It was a poor day for everybody, actually. Ernie (Els) shot 74 and won. I think we had all had enough, to be honest. It was a really weird feeling – like we were getting in the way as the stands were coming down.
The major that really got away was the 1995 US PGA at Riviera. I played terrific golf tee-togreen. I hit 69 out of 72 greens – which is still a major record. My finishing total of 17-under was also a scoring record for a non-winner. If I’d won the putting stats that week, I’d have walked it, but I putted badly and lost the play-off to Steve Elkington.
Why didn’t I win the Masters? First, Augusta National never suited my eye. Second, I wasn’t an aggressive enough putter to risk a three-putt in order to hole the first one. I was good enough to two-putt my way around Augusta but that meant scoring 70, 71, which wasn’t good enough to win. I never felt comfortable enough to bang it past.
My one career regret is not joining the PGA Tour. It would have given me more opportunity to win majors. But my wife was happy living in the London area. Our three children came early, so we put them first. I came over for majors on an ad-hoc basis. It was difficult to get used to the time zones, to the courses and to the American way of life. I think I did pretty well, all things considered. If I’d come in to those majors on the back of four or five weeks on the Tour, who knows? I might have done just one shot better.
My strength is hitting fairways, so I get upset when we have to play on these bloody wideopen plains where you can just rip it, find it and rip it again. That’s not the golf I was brought up with. In America, they simply slice the top layer of grass off and call it a bunker. That’s not a hazard. That’s not a penalty.
If you’ve played any of the golf courses I have designed, you’ll have noticed that the bunkering is more severe than normal. When I was growing up, if you drove it into a bunker it was half a shot penalty. You should be penalised for missing fairways – especially now technology has made every club easier to hit. If you miss your target, it’s you who’s made a mistake. It’s not the club’s fault. You should be penalised.
If you want an example of great golf course design on these shores, head to Loch Lomond. You can tell instantly that course was designed by somebody who plays and understands the game. Tom Weiskopf clearly knows there should always be a reward and a penalty involved in going for a pin.
Roger Federer doesn’t bring his tennis balls to a game. Ronnie O’Sullivan doesn’t bring his own snooker balls. You don’t bring your own rugby ball to a game, so why do you bring your own golf ball? It’s great for amateurs to have options, but pros should play the same ball.
My one golden rule for scoring? Never follow one error with another. If you are in trouble, get out of that trouble and make a bogey. Bogeys add up slowly on your scorecard; double bogeys kill you quickly.
Receiving my OBE for ‘services to golf’ in 2004 was a huge honour. The upgrade from MBE to OBE was very special. I was announced immediately after somebody had been given an OBE for services to the Inland Revenue!
I’m very proud that I never lost a Ryder Cup singles match. I played four away in America and four at home in Europe. One of the best walks I’ve ever had in golf was between the 16th green and 17th tee at The K Club in 2006. I was 2-up against David Toms. I knew I couldn’t lose and that my record would remain intact.
I played with Tiger in the third round of the 1997 Masters. I remember thinking that my experience and his lack of experience of being in contention would work in my favour. But he shot 65 and I shot 74. I was just in awe of what I was witnessing. Nick Faldo was single-minded, but Tiger’s focus was in a di erent league. I’d never witnessed golf like that. You won’t see anything of the like again. He was 50 yards longer than anybody, he was straighter than anybody, his iron shots were impeccable and his mind was so strong. He never missed a 10-footer all week.
I would love to win the Senior Open Championship. When you think about the R&A tournaments, I haven’t won one. Second at the Open, second at the British Amateur, second at the British Youths, second at the Senior Open. You think, wait a minute, I’ve got a lot of these runner-up trays but I haven’t actually got a trophy. So it’s a very definite target for me.
I lost a lot of weight during the lockdown.
I was ill at the start of this pandemic, and it wasn’t because of that, it was something else, and I lost half a stone. So I thought, well, I’ll just continue. And I lost three stone in the end, which is 42 pounds, so it was okay. The downside was that I had to give up all my favourite food. I started counting calories and it was pizza that got me. It said 330 calories and I was like, ‘that’s not bad’. Then I read further on and it said per slice. Times eight.
I started doing Pilates as well during lockdown. There is no question it helps. It’s the flexibility that stops us. It’s what stopped Nick Faldo, Seve in his later years, Ian Woosnam really. It stopped Sandy many times. There’s only one of that top 5 that’s kept going, and it’s Bernhard. I’m very lucky, I’m very flexible, but I’ve got to keep at it.