Monty in no mood to give up major dream
When the lid blows no one is safe. Radio reporters, spectators, little boys rustling crisp packets have all been in the firing line of Monty's ire.
Only last month he was caught on camera brandishing a club threateningly in the face of a photographer at the British Masters.
That image confirmed Montgomerie as golf's Mr Grumpy and yesterday as he put the final touches to his preparation for the British Open which begins at Royal St George's today, he attempted to explain the passion which so often makes the blood boil in the Scot once labelled 'Mrs Doubtfire' amid a running feud with American galleries.
"Of course I care about my image, yes, yes," said Montgomerie, with an earnestness matched only by frankness on the eve of yet another bid to shed his tag as the best golfer never to win a major.
"At the same time I care about what I score as well. And how I score it."
Why does he care?
"Because I'm a father and a husband and I care about that as well," added Montgomerie, who has three children with his wife Eimear.
"I'm a very public figure. And I do care about image very, very, very much. When, unfortunately, that situation brandishing the club came up, that's me caring about what I score. If I didn't care about what I did, I wouldn't be here. I care about what I do professionally and unfortunately that shows in certain ways.
"I'm proud of the fact that I have produced the goods in certain pressure situations over the years and certain players haven't."
Unfortunately, while Montgomerie has had one near miss in the USPGA Championship finishing on the wrong side of a play-off with Steve Elkington in 1995 and another in the US Open at the hands of Ernie Els, he has failed consistently to make an impact in the home major he wants most.
At 40, the bookies believe his chance has gone, recent putting problems convincing them to rank him anywhere from a 66-1 to 80-1 outsider.
That is little more than an insult to a man who won seven successive Order of Merit titles in Europe and who scored a record four-and-a-half points in leading Europe to Ryder Cup triumph over America at The Belfry last September.
"I would probably have won this event by now if I had played the way I did back in September," admitted Montgomerie.
"But I'm not frustrated at not winning an Open. If I finish my career and haven't won a major I'll still look back on a very successful time.
But as Monty grimaced at the pre-tournament questioning and wrestled with the demons which cloud his personality, you wondered whether, for all the millions won,
he has ever truly enjoyed his sport.
"When did I last enjoy a major?" mused the man who has slipped 11 places to number 21 in the world rankings over the past six months.
"Well, I enjoyed parts of majors. Last enjoyed a major? My God, have I ever? I don't think at any one time you would say this is real fun. But you look back on the experience as enjoyable.
"If I finish on Sunday night having had an enjoyable week I should be on the leaderboard somewhere.
"My goal for the rest of the season is to get back in the top 10. You can't stay at the top forever. If we did, Muhammad Ali would still be the champion, wouldn't he. These things don't happen.
"I still feel within myself that I'm one of the favourites to win here," he said. "I wouldn't be here if I didn't think I had a 10 out of 10 chance of winning. There might be less pressure on from a media point of view, but not a personal point of view.
"I'm as ambitious to win this as ever."
Which means a walking volcano could erupt at any time on this Kent shoreline.
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