A relieved Colin Montgomerie ended 56 weeks without a European tour victory on Sunday - and with it eased a Ryder Cup headache.
Montgomerie emerged from the doldrums with a superb five-stroke victory in the
Murphy's Irish Open at Fota Island in Cork.
Watched by a huge crowd that had the added excitement of home pair Darren
Clarke and Padraig Harrington mounting charges, the 38-year-old Scot completed a
performance that contained all the hallmarks of his seven-year reign as Europe's
number one.
Even when he double-bogeyed the 478-yard eighth - "No, no, no" he cried as
his second shot veered left into the water - Montgomerie promptly birdied the
next two holes to give himself some breathing space again.
He collected the £161,618 first prize with a closing 66 and the cheque, though
far from one of the biggest on offer on the circuit these days, was sufficient
to take him from 13th in the Ryder Cup race to sixth.
Only the top 10 qualify automatically after 11 more counting events and, with
Sergio Garcia, Jesper Parnevik and Bernhard Langer among those currently needing
one of Sam Torrance's two wild cards, joint runner-up Clarke commented: "I am
sure Sam will be even more pleased than Monty."
Montgomerie, who blamed the pressures of golf for marriage problems last year,
said himself: "That's one of the most important wins of my career - if not the
most important.
"I have had an awful good look at myself in the last eight weeks and I am a better person. I am a lot calmer on and off the course.
"I think I wanted success too much. It was a conveyor belt I couldn't get
off, but I've turned it around and to win again as this new person, if you like,
means a lot to me.
"You wonder if it is ever going to happen again and the pressure was great.
"When you are expected to win it's the hardest thing to go and achieve. You
know someone in the pack is going to have a good score and it's more difficult
than people imagine."
In the driving seat from the moment he opened with a course record 63 on
Thursday, Montgomerie resumed three in front.
It was down to two when 20-year-old Australian Adam Scott eagled the long
fifth and again when Swede Niclas Fasth birdied the last two holes for the only
other 63 of the week.
The world number nine had just bogeyed the 12th, but again he came straight
back with an 18-foot birdie putt and he sensed then he had it in the bag.
The icing on the cake came with further birdies at the 16th and long 18th as
he completed the 31st success of his career - and his third Irish Open.
They enabled him to reach the 18-under-par mark he had predicted as the
winning score and it is also the first time he has ever led from start to finish
in a tournament.
Clarke and Harrington, already sure of their cup places, both shot 64 to catch
Fasth.
For Harrington it was a fourth runners-up finish of the season and the 13th of
his career.
He has still won only three times, but he said: "While some second places
have disappointed me, I'm delighted with this one." He birdied four of the last
five holes for it.
Clarke had made the halfway cut with nothing to spare at level par, then
scored 65-64.
Having never previously finished higher than 15th in the event, he commented:
"Hopefully at some stage in the future I will have the chance to win. With such
fantastic crowds it would be incredible."
Montgomerie's career earnings in Europe alone are now approaching £11million.
But while money does not matter to him any more, his pride does and he
admitted it would have hurt that greatly if he had needed a wild card to play at
The Belfry in September.
Meanwhile, Ian Woosnam has still not given up hope of playing there as well -
and telling Torrance to find another assistant - after a closing 64 lifted him
to eight under.
Like Fasth, the 43-year-old needed to birdie the par-five last to match
Montgomerie's three-day-old course record, but had to take a penalty drop after
driving into the trees.
He looked like dropping a shot, but salvaged a par with a 35-foot putt, the
same distance he holed from on the first.
"At six under after six (he eagled the fifth and had more birdies on the
third, fourth and sixth), I was wondering what was happening," he said. "I
hadn't holed a single putt in the first three rounds."
He is outside the top 30 in the Ryder Cup table, but commented: "I've not
ruled myself out yet and if I do finish in the top 10, I will definitely
play."
Key to that, though, is qualifying for The Open this month. Woosnam has played
in every one since 1981, but is not exempt at the moment.
He will be among 96 players battling at Southport and Ainsdale on July 15-16
for only about seven places - unless he grabs one of 15 spots that will be up
for grabs at the Scottish Open next week.
Harrington's performance means the first change at the top of the Ryder Cup
for six months. He has now relegated Swede Pierre Fulke to second place.
Montgomerie is not yet safe, but he is not far from it.
Final scores:
(Gbr and Irl unless stated, par 71)
266 C Montgomerie 63 69 68 66 (£161,618)
271 N Fasth (Swe) 68 71 69 63, P Harrington 67 72 68 64, D Clarke 70 72 65 64
(£72,311 each)
273 T Bjorn (Den) 66 69 72 66 (£41,116)
274 R Karlsson (Swe) 71 69 67 67, G Emerson 68 70 67 69, A Scott (Aus) 68 69
66 71
275 S Tinning (Den) 69 68 72 66, I Poulter 69 69 71 66, D Howell 68 70 71 66,
B Lane 68 67 72 68, T Levet (Fra) 68 67 72 68, A Coltart 67 71 69 68
276 I Woosnam 73 69 70 64, S Webster 67 71 72 66, J Rose 70 70 69 67, G
Brand Jnr 68 69 71 68, A Wall 67 67 71 71
277 I Garbutt 70 71 69 67, G Evans 66 70 73 68, M Farry (Fra) 72 65 71 69, J
Senden (Aus) 67 70 71 69, M Mouland 71 70 67 69, M Scarpa (Ita) 67 73 67 70
278 C Pettersson (Swe) 68 72 72 66, P Lonard (Aus) 73 68 71 66, C Pottier
(Fra) 70 69 72 67, G Havret (Fra) 69 71 69 69
279 P Price 75 65 73 66, J Berendt (Arg) 68 73 71 67, D Lynn 71 65 75 68, R
Russell 71 69 71 68, P Lawrie 71 66 72 70
280 S Kjeldsen (Den) 69 73 72 66, J Lomas 72 70 70 68, G Orr 72 69 70 69, S
Leaney (Aus) 71 70 70 69, S Dyson 70 72 69 69, D Robertson 67 70 73 70, J
Bickerton 67 72 69 72, I Garrido (Spn) 68 72 68 72, A Beal 70 70 68 72
281 S Dodd 69 72 71 69, C Rocca (Ita) 70 72 70 69, S Lyle 68 72 70 71, P
O'Malley (Aus) 71 70 69 71
282 M Lundberg (Swe) 69 72 73 68, H Nystrom (Swe) 70 72 71 69, J-F Remesy
(Fra) 69 73 69 71, P McGinley 69 73 66 74, H Bjornstad (Nor) 66 74 67 75, F
Henge (Swe) 65 70 70 77
283 P Fowler (Aus) 73 69 70 71, W Bennett 72 67 72 72, S Struver (Ger) 67 74
68 74
284 F Cea (Spn) 70 71 72 71, R Jacquelin (Fra) 68 71 73 72
285 D Lee 70 70 73 72
286 Yeh Wei-tze (Tai) 72 70 75 69, A Oldcorn 73 69 73 71, F Jacobson (Swe) 70
72 70 74
287 E Darcy 65 75 72 75
288 C Rodiles (Spn) 71 71 74 72, R Ballesteros (Spn) 70 71 74 73, E Simsek
(Ger) 68 72 73 75
289 T Gogele (Ger) 70 72 72 75, M Bernardini (Ita) 72 70 69 78
291 P Sjoland (Swe) 73 68 70 80
295 G Rankin 70 70 74 81
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