Monty makes another caddie change

Colin Montgomerie has decided on a change of caddie – for the second time in under four months.

Steve Rawlinson, who started working with the seven-time European number one at the Wales Open in June, was told at the end of the Lancôme Trophy in Paris yesterday that it was their last event together.

Montgomerie has not won since the Volvo Masters last November – a title he shared with Bernhard Langer when their play-off was halted by bad light. His last outright success in Europe was the Scandinavian Masters 25 months ago.

Having ended a 10-year partnership with Alastair Maclean in May last year the Ryder Cup star signed up Andy Prodger, but then decided to ask Rawlinson if he was available.

That came at the Volvo PGA championship in May and Australian Stephen Leaney, for whom Rawlinson was working at the time, was not happy at how it was done.

“Monty actually called while Steve was telling me, but obviously they had already arranged it before,” said Leaney, who a month later finished runner-up in the US Open.

“It was unfortunate that I didn’t get to hear about it until the deal was already done. I would preferred Monty to have had the courtesy to call and tell me what was going on. Suddenly, I’m in the lurch.”

Montgomerie said then: “It’s always difficult – there’s never a good way of dealing with this situation.

“I felt I did the right thing. I asked my new caddie and then I phoned Steve Leaney and then I contacted Andy. I did the whole thing in the proper order.

“There’s no point in me talking to Stephen Leaney without knowing that the caddie wanted to caddie for me in the first place, so I had to go to the caddie first.

“Let’s not make a big issue here, come on. These things happen, okay. Life goes on.”

Montgomerie plays in this week’s German Masters in Cologne.