Colin Montgomerie gets 'competitive juices flowing' again for big Scottish summer
Gleneagles glory in Scot’s sights along with a strong display as tournament host in Aberdeen
There’s life in the old dog yet. Colin Montgomerie’s 63rd birthday may be on the horizon, meaning he’ll be 13 years older than some of the players he is trying to beat these days, yet there’s signs that an Indian summer could be on the cards for one of the game’s most-recognisable figures.
In the second over-50s’ major of the 2026 season, Montgomerie finished third after hanging on to the coat-tails of the eventual winner, Stewart Cink, for the opening three days in the Regions Tradition, which was held at Greystone Golf & Country Club in Birmingham, Alabama.
To put that performance into perspective, it was the Scot’s best finish on the PGA Champions Tour in around three years and was against the senior game’s new dominant force in Cink, the 2009 Open winner having also come out on top in the Senior PGA Championship a few weeks earlier at The Concession Golf Club in Florida.
It wasn’t a flash in the pan, either. Montgomerie had opened his latest campaign on the US circuit with two solid performances and has maintained his resurgence with two more encouraging efforts, the most recent being a tie for 11th behind Australian Scott Hend in the Trophy Hassan II in Morocco.
“Well, you wouldn’t have thought that with my shots there, but I can put that down to a 4.30am alarm,” declared Montgomerie, laughing, of his recent form not being mirrored as he failed to hit the green with a couple of efforts at the short 12th hole on the New Course at Trump International Golf Links on a visit to the Aberdeenshire venue to promote his hosting duties in the Staysure PGA Seniors Championship for a third year in a row.
He was being perfectly serious, though, when he reflected on the Regions Tradition performance in particular. “You know, it got the competitive juices flowing,” he admitted, smiling. “I’m playing against Stewart Cink who is ‘the’ player out on the Champions Tour now. He hits the ball as long as anyone and was 60-70 yards past me off the tee.
Old caddie Alastair McLean back on Monty’s bag
“And yet it all comes down to who holes the putts and who gets up and down and I was doing that very well. If a couple of putts on the front nine had gone in, I might have been able to put pressure on him and you never know. But it was great to have that confidence because the self esteem goes up again. It was my best finish on the tour for a few years and that was great.
“It definitely gives me the confidence that I can do this again and I’ve got my old caddie, Alastair McLean, back with me. Jeff Brighton went back to the LPGA Tour, so Alastair is back with me, which is good. I feel safe with him and we’ve had a good few weeks back together so far. Yeah, we are looking forward to the rest of the season and going forward with it.”
After winning 31 times on the European Tour and now called the DP World Tour, where he finished the season as No 1 for a record eight times, Montgomerie added seven victories, including three majors, on the Champions Tour between 2014 and 2019. In addition, he also has six wins on the European Senior Tour to his name.
If there was one more title triumph in his tank, how special would it be if that came on Scottish soil this year at either the Legends Tour event at Donald Trump’s course or the ISPS Handa Senior Open at Gleneagles? It was there, after all, that Montgomerie was famously denied a Scottish Open triumph in 1992 by Australian Peter O’Malley finishing eagle-birdie-birdie-birdie-eagle on the King’s Course to sign off with a 62.
‘Let’s walk before we can run’
“Let’s walk before we can run here,” said Montgomerie, laughing, as he looked ahead to his two tasty assignments in the home of golf this summer. “It gets more difficult as we’ve got the likes of Henrik Stenson on board now and Jamie Donaldson, who is a good player. I played with him in Marbella earlier in the year and he won that event. Stephen Gallacher also hits the ball really well still. Scott Hend, he’s a world-class player. There are a number of guys that are really still competitive and want to do well, which is good.
“But, yes, people are looking at the ISPS Handa Senior Open at Gleneagles this year obviously because it is a very special place and, of course, the winner plays at St Andrews in The Open next year. That’s the beauty of Gleneagles this year. That’s one that I am looking forward to because the King’s Course isn’t one of the longest courses and I’ve almost got to pick and choose my courses these days at 63 years old. Yes, that’s an exciting one to have coming up, as is the Staysure PGA Senior Championship. To host an event and win the damn thing would be great.”
Cink, who, of course, will be join a select band of players to win both Claret Jugs, has committed to the Senior Open, as has defending champion Padraig Harrington, as well as Darren Clarke, the winner at Gleneagles in 2022, Ernie Els, Thomas Bjorn, Jose Maria Olazabal and Miguel Angel Jimenez. Hend, now exempt for the Champions Tour after his breakthrough win at Royal Dar Es Salam last month, Donaldson and Gallacher will also be in the field at the Perthshire venue.
Tickets for the ISPS Handa Senior Open at Gleneagles can be purchased online here
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