Monty ends title drought with Dunhill victory

Published on Monday 3 October 2005 01:15

COLIN Montgomerie ended a 19-month spell without a victory yesterday by holing a four-foot birdie putt on the 18th green at the Old Course to claim the biggest official prize of his 18-year career - a cheque for nearly £450,000 - and breathe new life into his hopes of winning the Order of Merit for the first time since 1999.

Although he leapfrogged over Retief Goosen into second place behind Michael Campbell in the race to become Europe's No 1 - he's just 83,000 behind the US Open winner - the Scot was understandably more interested in savouring his first win on home turf since the Scottish Open at Loch Lomond six years ago.

Just three months after claiming second place behind Tiger Woods in the Open and collecting 430,000 for his trouble, Montgomerie took his earnings in St Andrews alone this season to nearly 900,000. The victory by a stroke over England's Kevin Ferrie at the Dunhill Links will also move him back into the world top 20 today after starting the season outside the top 80.

With a huge number of Ryder Cup points added to his name, the Troon man's 71 for 279 - nine under par - also moved the 42-year-old closer to his eighth Ryder Cup appearance at the K Club, near Dublin, next September.

Clearly emotional when he thanked the Scottish galleries for their support at the Open as well as at Dunhill, Montgomerie admitted that his 29th win on the European Tour was, in his own estimation, the most important of the lot.

"I said my next win would be the most important of my career and it is. When I was winning seven Order of Merits, it was a bit of a roller-coaster and you couldn't get off. I wouldn't say it was easy, but it was expected. And then it stopped. My life changed dramatically. And that's why I feel it's the most influential win of my career. Especially being here in St Andrews. This is a very special place."

After looking to be a spent force a couple of seasons ago when the collapse of his marriage drained the confidence from his play, the Scot could hardly have wished for a more fitting setting to mark his return to winning ways than the last green at the home of golf.

Doug Sanders remembers from the 1970 Open how cruel it can feel to miss a short putt on the last green. The image of the American opening the door for Jack Nicklaus to win in a play-off was one Montgomerie fought to keep from his thoughts.

He knew the putt broke from left to right and that it needed to be struck more firmly than you might think from a first guess.

"I was trying to remember all the ones just like I've holed over the years. It was one I wasn't going to miss.''

On a testing final day in St Andrews when the wind howled and the temperature plummeted, the standard of golf set by Ferrie and Montgomerie in the last group wasn't what either man would have wanted.

Leading by five shots from Montgomerie when the last round began, Ferrie - 77 for 280 - lost his way midway through the front nine when he dropped a shot at the sixth and ran up a double bogey on the seventh. Montgomerie then suffered a mini-collapse of his own when he three-putted 11th and carded a double on the 12th.

If there was a turning point in the winning of the Dunhill, it came on the 15th when Montgomerie holed a 45-foot putt for birdie and Ferrie three-putted for bogey. The Scot and his caddie, Alastair McLean, used their yardage book from the Open rather than the Dunhill and felt it made a difference because they were able to use the same club selections from the summer.

While it was understandable that Ferrie would feel disappointed, his comments were less than gracious.

''I do feel that I let Colin win," rued the Englishman. ''I could have put more pressure on him when I had the chance. I made silly bogeys all the way. I've got nobody to blame but myself.''

Montgomerie's win makes it the third Scottish success at the Dunhill in five years. Last year's winner, Stephen Gallacher, opened up with a 74 at Carnoustie and 73 at St Andrews, marred by no fewer than five three-putts on Friday. The Bathgate man then tossed caution to the strong winds at Kingsbarns on Saturday when he fought back with a 67.

That score, which ensured he made the cut, would have been even more impressive but for a double-bogey 6 at the 17th. Yesterday, in spite of the conditions, Gallacher avoided any serious errors. True, he did have a fresh air whiff in a bunker at the par-5 14th. Forced to play his fourth shot backwards out of the trap, the Scot stepped out of the sand and proceeded to hole a miraculous 90 foot putt for par.

Gallacher's two-putt birdie from 100 feet away on the first tee on the closing hole was, if anything, even more remarkable. Playing with the wind at his back, the Scot was concerned his drive could travel out of bounds but didn't want to leave a 3-wood in the valley of sin. As it turned out, he ended in play halfway up the bank adjacent to the path in front of the R&A clubhouse.

Blocked out by a Dunhill sign at the back of the first tee, Gallacher was given line of sight relief and a free drop. Choosing to putt, he guided the ball within five feet of the cup before holing out for 68 and a six-under total of 282. It was good enough for a share of seventh, and a cheque for nearly 60,000.

For Raymond Russell, this hasn't been a vintage season by any stretch of the imagination. Battling to retain his card, Russell separated from long-term coach Bob Torrance during the summer. Carding five birdies and just a brace of bogeys, the East Lothian man's 69 for 284 earned him a top-20 finish, a first in a year hindered by 11 missed cuts.

The team prize of more than 28,000 was won by Henrik Stenson and Rurik Gobel on 29 under par.