Martin Dempster: Colin Montgomerie facing the pivotal month of a stellar career

EVEN amongst the Scottish scribes, Colin Montgomerie’s presence in the field for this week’s Volvo Golf Champions tournament, which is being held at Fancourt in South Africa, has been the subject of some head scratching.

In effect, the event is the European Tour’s equivalent of the PGA Tour’s Tournament of Champions in Hawaii, where only the winners from the previous season congregate to battle it out for a huge pot of money.

As the 2011 Andalucia Open champion, Paul Lawrie is in the Fancourt field but how come Montgomerie is, too, when his last Tour triumph was the 2007 European Open at The K Club?

Well, it’s down to a special category that has opened the door for not only Montgomerie but also Padraig Harrington and Retief Goosen, two other clients of IMG, the event’s promoter, to compete for a £1.6 million prize fund – the biggest of the season so far.

For Montgomerie, the tournament will mark the start of his 25th full season on the European Tour and a whole host of questions about what lies ahead for the Scot look set to be answered before the end of February.

The man who once dominated the European game has only managed one top-10 finish in the last three years and starts his latest campaign languishing in 310th spot in the world rankings.

Speaking just before Christmas, the 48-year-old was typically upbeat about his forthcoming schedule, which also sees him join a star-studded cast in Abu Dhabi next week before moving on to the other Middle East Swing events in Qatar and Dubai.

“I am hoping for a strong start to my 2012 season to set the tone for the rest of the year,” he said. “The four-week run at the start of the year is going to be decisive for me.

“After those tournaments, I would like to be in the top 20 on the Order of Merit. I know I can still win, but I’ve lost the consistency I once had. Silly errors have crept into my game.”

That explains why a stroke average that was always around the 69 mark when he chalked up a record eight Order of Merit titles has never been below 70 in the last six seasons.

Last year, he finished 17th in driving accuracy and did better in terms of hitting greens in regulation but he was well down the rankings when it came to putting statistics.

The next four weeks could well kick-start a surge back up the rankings, but it could also leave the 2009 Ryder Cup captain having to face the reality that his days of being able to compete at the top level are all but over.

The competitive fires may still be burning inside but, in truth, he needs to see something tangible in the near future to convince him that he still has the game to try and add to a hugely-impressive haul of 31 European Tour titles.

Monty would hate having another season of mediocrity – he failed to string four rounds in the 60s together in a single event last year – but is well aware that, as Father Time marches on, it is getting harder for him to compete with the young bucks for the big bucks.

Most players edging towards 50 have one eye on the Senior Tour but Monty, who becomes eligible in June 2013, has sent out mixed messages when that particular subject has been raised in the past.

Initially, he wasn’t interested in it all but, more recently, he’s started to the warm to the idea and says he will definitely play in the Senior Open Championship.

According to Andrew Oldcorn, who finished third on the European Senior Tour money-list last year, his fellow Scot’s competitive nature edge will see him want to play in a lot more that just the over-50s majors.

“I know Monty has said he will be playing then you hear him saying he won’t, but I know he will because he is so competitive as a person. He won’t not be able to play professional golf,” said Oldcorn.

“What’s more, our Tour needs him to play. It also needs Miguel Angel Jimenez, who also becomes eligible in the next couple of years, to play. That would help because, at just about that time, I think Sam Torrance and Ian Woosnam will just about have had enough. The influx of major institutions on the main Tour like Monty and Miguel is only going to help our circuit.”

Having seen Thomas Bjorn and, to a lesser extent, Darren Clarke both enjoy success last season, you can bet Montgomerie has headed to South Africa with renewed hope and vigour. It would be foolish to start writing his golfing obituary just yet, but the next month could prove to be pivotal in terms of the final few chapters in the playing career of Colin Stuart Montgomerie.

Scots make leaderboards a sight for sore eyes

IT’S not exactly enjoyable when you go on the European Tour website to check out the live tournament scoring and have to trawl down the list to see the first sight of a Saltire.

But, while that may have been the case way too often in the past few years, the tide is starting to change if the evidence of the past few weeks are anything to go by. First we had Paul Lawrie finishing second in the Dubai World Championship, then Martin Laird got his 2012 campaign on the PGA Tour off to a flying start with a runner-up finish in Hawaii.

On the European circuit, the two events so far this year have been awash with Saltires on the leaderboard, with five in the top 25 at one point in the final round of the Joburg Open.

Two of those, David Drysdale and Marc Warren, ended in a share of third spot and have started their engines very nicely in this season’s Race to Dubai.

Drysdale was so determined to get his season off to a positive start that he decided to miss his management company’s Christmas bash in Edinburgh to get his game in shape and all credit to him for that. As for Warren, losing his Tour card at the end of 2010 gave him a shake and he’s determined not to make a return visit to the Challenge Tour. Add the encouraging starts by George Murray, Craig Lee and Alastair Forsyth and things are certainly beginning to look up for Scottish golf, even before the likes of Paul Lawrie, Stephen Gallacher and Richie Ramsay have entered the fray in 2012.