Ryder dream spurs Monty on

“THE most important win of my career.” That was Colin Montgomerie’s verdict at St Andrews last night after he had captured the Dunhill Links Championship in a dramatic finish against Englishman Kenneth Ferrie.

He made up a five-stroke deficit and got home by a shot with a nine under par total of 279 from the hapless Ferrie who crashed to a miserable final round of 77 against Monty’s solid 71.

It was the 42 year-old Scot’s second win on native soil after the Loch Lomond International in 1999 and he made no secret of what it meant to him by breaking down at the presentation ceremony. But he quickly recovered to handle the press conference with his customary eloquence and went so far as to claim that his best days are still ahead of him.

He is now in second place on the European Tour order of merit, some €120,000 behind Michael Campbell, having earned €662,415 for his endeavours at the Home of Golf. He could well overtake the New Zealander in this week’s American Express World Championship in San Francisco, the Madrid Open and the season ending Volvo Masters but he had no hesitation in insisting that “I have that T-shirt, in fact I have seven of them and don’t need any more. If it happens, it happens, but what I want above all is to play in the Ryder Cup in Ireland along with everybody else on the European Tour. The points are crucial at this stage and that is what I am playing for right now. ”

It was Montgomerie’s first tournament win since the Caltex Masters in 2004, a gap of 40 European Tour events. It was his 13th year with at least one victory worldwide dating back to 1993 and he became the third Scottish Dunhill champion in five years after Paul Lawrie in 2001 and Stephen Gallacher 12 months ago. His cheque for €662,414 is his biggest on the European Tour and enables him to crash the €19 million barrier.

His final day comeback is the second largest on this year’s schedule behind, ironically enough, Ferrie’s seven at the European Open. Monty revealed how he set himself a goal of reducing that deficit to two after five holes. In fact, it took him one more, but he nibbled away and in spite of a double bogey at the 12th, finally caught his man on the 15th and nosed ahead on the driveable 18th where he got down in two putts from 90 feet and beside the first tee whereas the faltering Englishman left his second with a putter from the right of the green about eight yards short and missed for his three.

“I still had to negotiate a four-footer with a left to right break”, said Montgomerie, who, however, stated that thoughts of how Doug Sanders missed virtually the same putt to win the 1970 Open Championship or any other similar failures never entered his head. “Instead, I relied on my self belief and reminded myself of how many I had made over the years“, he said. “The 15th was crucial, I holed a 15-footer for birdie, the three-putted from miles away and suddenly we were tied. We both played great shots to the 17th and he was unlucky at the last. His ball broke to the right and had it gone left he would have made three.”

But Ferrie missed his chance and settled for second place, a prize of €441,607 and second place in the European Ryder Cup points list behind Montgomerie and immediately ahead of Paul McGinley. That clearly is the most significant statistic for Monty, who also said he constantly wondered if he would ever win again.

“I sort of backed into 2nd place at The K-Club and to be honest, Tiger was always just ahead of me in the Open”, he said. “I was looking forward so much to coming back here so soon after the Open experience. This is a very special place. I’ve always said the next win would be the most important of my career and it is. The seven orders of merit kept rolling along. I wouldn’t say it was easy but it was expected. And then it stopped. My life changed dramatically a couple of years ago. Of course I feared I might never win again.

“The players on this tour are improving beyond belief. They see the rewards available. They see the lifestyle available. The financial reward is huge now on this tour. They are practising harder, they are fitter, they are tougher, they bring along their mental coaches and fitness instructors and stuff. And there’s me at 42 having to compete with all of this and it’s nice that I can still do so. I’m off to San Francisco tomorrow in the knowledge that I’m still capable of doing that and it’s a real thrill, believe me.”