Monty's midlife crisis as Scotland joins the pros
Montgomerie is 40 next Monday and can think of no better way to usher it in than with his first victory of the season in the Diageo Championship at Gleneagles on Sunday.
Scotland, meanwhile, plays his first-ever professional tournament after deciding not to wait for September's Walker Cup match against the United States.
"I just felt the time was right," said the Surrey youngster, who first hit the headlines when he qualified for the 1999 Open at Carnoustie, aged 16.
Scotland has seven events in which to try to earn enough around £120,000 to avoid a trip to the qualifying school in November.
Paul Casey and Sergio Garcia were the last to achieve that, Casey winning this same event in his rookie season, but Scotland is not entirely being thrown in at the deep end.
The former England international played 11 tour events as an amateur and has already formed a bond with Nick Faldo.
"Nick's help has been just unbelievable. Getting to ask him questions has been awesome because he has been through everything he's the best British golfer ever and has been inspiring me ever since I started ," he said.
Montgomerie survived the halfway cut, relief in itself after two successive early exits in Europe, and admitted to feeling tired in today's wet and windy pro-am.
"That was hard work and I don't think you'll see 26 under winning again, but I hear that's the worst of the weather," he said.
As for his unhappy season so far he commented: "I'm just not as confident as I used to be, but I feel the turnaround is coming and it's about time I started winning tournaments again.
"I'm very, very fortunate. If I was a footballer I'd be finished by now, but I'm in this for the next five or six years to compete at this level."
