My Sporting Life is The i Paper’s peek behind the curtains on what drives sports stars to greatness. Colin Montgomerie was a European titan on the golf course, winning a record eight consecutive Order of Merits including seven in a row between 1993 and 1999. In eight Ryder Cups he never lost a singles match. In all, he won 23 and a half points for Europe – and then captained the side to victory at Celtic Manor in 2010. He never won a Major though. He looks back on his life and career with Neil Squires.
If you’re part of a winning Ryder Cup team that bond never leaves you
I was fortunate enough to be on five of those European teams – six if you include the captaincy. I really enjoyed the team aspect of the Ryder Cup. I won a few tournaments in my career but that was all a bit “I”. I always got more out of “we”.
Having some egos in the team room was useful – Nick Faldo was the No 1 in the world at that time – but all one person can do is get five points. That doesn’t get you over the line. It had to be a team effort.
Faldo, Langer, Seve, all the rest… we were different characters but we had a superb time together during those weeks. We were a band of brothers. And to beat America in a Ryder Cup – especially in an away one – was a superb feeling.
The waterproofs situation helped us at Celtic Manor in 2010
It was a very wet Ryder Cup and the Americans’ rainwear started taking on water so badly they had to buy some replacement kit from the pro shop. The disruption gave us half a point maybe and in a tight Ryder Cup that’s sometimes all you need.
Because of the rain, it was the only Ryder Cup ever to go to a Monday finish. There was nobody working in South Wales that morning – they were all at Celtic Manor. The support was amazing.
As I said in my closing speech: “the world was watching and Wales delivered.” As a captain the stress was incredible. We had lost the Ryder Cup in 2008 and it needed winning back.
Growing up in Yorkshire, I was the unofficial taste tester for Fox’s Biscuits
Golden Crunch Creams, Jam Sandwich Creams, Party Rings… I can name them all.
My father was managing director at the factory in Batley and he used to bring home all these delicious biscuits, fresh out of the oven, plus the broken bits of milk chocolate in bags as well. I never really recovered from it weight-wise but what a time to be alive.
Dad passed away last year. We lost mum 35 years ago. When that line finishes something changes….
I’m sitting here in my study looking at eight Vardon trophies
I think I was happiest in my career when I was winning those Order of Merits. I was under a two-pronged attack from the Faldo/Langer generation and the Westwood/Clarke generation but my self-esteem was high.
As a sportsman that confidence is so important and I was full of it at that point. I was also getting better throughout that period. It was a very exciting – and lucrative – time.
The rewards are bigger still now, of course. Especially for those who join LIV. Would I have gone to LIV? God no.
My biggest regret is not winning the 2006 US Open
The one Major I should have won was Winged Foot. The other four that I was runner-up in I was beaten fair and square – you shake the guy’s hand and say ‘well played’ – but at Winged Foot I beat myself. That one really hurt.
I was one ahead and I hit the perfect drive at the final hole. But my playing partner Vijay Singh took a couple of drops in a marquee – and it ended up being nine minutes between shots for me. That is a long time to keep thinking positively. Unfortunately I caught the ball heavy, put into Position Z and made double bogey. I’m convinced if I’d played the shot in normal time I’d have been OK.
Given the back story, winning my first Senior Major at the US PGA Championship in 2014 was a big deal, believe me.
I love driving across America
The longest I’ve taken on is Phoenix to Sioux Falls – South Dakota from Arizona is 20-odd hours. After about four hours in, my wife Sarah had had enough. There’s a lot of cattle in Northern Oklahoma, let me tell you.
In 45 years of driving I’ve never broken down but I have had the odd incident.
I once drove into an underground car park in the US in a huge CIA-type Suburban SUV hire car. The entrance was 7ft 6in which was OK but the exit was 6ft 6in. When I left the car park I was driving the first convertible Suburban. I had to walk back in to pick the roof up and throw it onto the back seat.
