Archives: Colin Montgomerie is pipped at the post by Elkington at 1995 US PGA

IT WAS the biggest putt of Colin Montgomerie's life, an 18-footer for birdie on the 72nd hole of the USPGA Championship to tie with Steve Elkington and force a play-off.

His face showed undiluted exhilaration and triumph when the ball rolled into the centre of the cup, but the job wasn't over yet.

Just 15 minutes later he again stood over the most important putt of his life, this time to keep the sudden-death play-off against Elkington alive.

Montgomerie had tied with the Australian on 267, 17 under par, by sinking that long putt on the last hole of regulation play, but he couldn't sink an 18-footer on the 18th again to prevent Elkington's victory. Moments earlier Elkington had put himself in the driving seat by sinking a 25-foot birdie putt on the first extra hole.

It was the second time Montgomerie had been beaten in a play-off for a major championship, his earlier disappointment being inflicted by Ernie Els in 1994 at the US Open. Extra holes have not been kind to the 31-year-old Scot who has now featured in five play-offs and lost them all.

"All I can say is that I did nothing wrong," Montgomerie said afterwards. "I saw that Steve was 17 under and I knew I had to make three birdies on the last three holes and I did it.

"I made par on the first play-off hole. He won it, I did not lose it. I did everything I could."

Elkington won $224,789 for his trouble while Montgomerie took home $134,789.

Elkington's victory was no fluke; he is considered to have the best swing in golf and has had an outstanding record in the majors this year, with a fifth-place finish at the Masters and a sixth in the Open at St Andrews.

Els had set scoring records in this championship during the previous two rounds, but yesterday the South African couldn't keep his ball on the fairway, and had trouble making putts, squandering a three-stroke lead at the start of the round and finishing in a tie for third place with Jeff Maggert at 15 under par, two strokes out of the play-off after a closing one-over 72.

While Montgomerie was the best player of the championship from tee to green - he was straight on 52 of the 57 fairways in the four days, including the play-off, and 61 of the 73 greens - Elkington was the most consistent yesterday, closing with a bogey-less seven-under-par 64. However, Montgomerie, who finished with a 65, showed the greater tenacity over the closing stretch, birdieing each of the last three holes of regulation play.While others have competed this week under the dual burdens of trying to win the last major of the year and at the same time qualify for the Ryder Cup, Elkington was competing while feeling so ill that he would have withdrawn from any other event. According to the victor, the only thing that got him out of bed on Saturday was the fact that his veins were filled with antibiotics and adrenalin.

Of the European challenge, Sam Torrance fared well with a total of 278, six under par, one shot better than Nick Faldo and two better than Sandy Lyle. Torrance closed with a 71, Faldo returned a 67 and Lyle had a 71.

Four different countries were represented in the top five finishers at the USPGA, but what was more important was what they all had in common - their ages. All are under 35 years.

There is a discernible shift in the age profile of the world's leading golfers as the younger generation have begun to consistently challenge for, and win, major championships.

Several players under 35 have now won major titles, namely Elkington, Lee Janzen, Jose Maria Olazabal, Ernie Els and John Daly, with the last-named the only one to win two titles.