Slim trim Monty the talk of the Hills

The compliments for Colin Montgomerie were as abundant as the old trees which line the fairways of Oakland Hills Country Club here.

“Doesn’t he look fit,” was the chorus from the American gallery. “So trim.” “How much weight has he lost?”

The answer is a staggering 36lbs in two months, though much more relevant was the affection Montgomerie seems to have gained.

Five years ago Montgomerie was pelted with so much verbal venom at Brookline that his father James was forced to leave the course.

This morning James again walked the American Ryder Cup fairways, along with Montgomerie’s brother Douglas, and this time he also was treated like some returning hero.

One man asked for his autograph on the first tee, another couple requested to be pictured with him.

One lady grabbed his arm and said: Good luck, I hope Colin plays well, I really do.”

So much love, it seemed, for the man American galleries once dubbed Mrs Doubtfire and taunted unmercifully.

No thought today of that now infamous American call “Oh Monty….nice t*ts,” which once sent Montgomerie into an on-course rage.

How much is down to Montgomerie’s weight and how much down to sympathy after his recent divorce is unclear. But in Monty’s mind it’s all in the scales.

“You see the scale go down one pound and the will power goes a different way,” said Montgomerie, who began his diet after The Open in July.

“I just feel better about myself and self-esteem is huge in this game, especially when you’re out in public an awful lot.

“I feel fitter. Whether it helps the team can only be seen on Sunday. If I gain some points of course it will help the team. That’s why I’m here, but it wasn’t done for the team cause on this occasion.”

Will it change the crowd’s perception of him?

“I think it does,” he said. “It’s a positive outlook for the crowds in general. I’m getting a lot of positive crowd reaction out there.”

So far, so good. But a ball has yet to be struck in anger. Patriotic fervour has yet to be stoked.

And despite the weight loss, despite the determination to pursue a new life after the recent divorce from ex-wife Eimear and despite his desire to resurrect his career there was also a twitchiness about Montgomerie today which betrayed the demons which must be swirling around his mind.

Much of that surrounds the one big question he must ask himself each night in the dark hours before he falls asleep alone here: ‘Is my golf game still good enough to live up to the legend?’

Montgomerie’s Ryder Cup record is the stuff of dreams, his 18.5 points garnered from six tournaments make him the fourth-best European of all-time behind Nick Faldo, Bernhard Langer and Seve Ballesteros.

He is quite happy to talk about those good times, the three victories in which he has shared, quite happy to share the glory with Faldo and Europe captain Langer, former partners and the two men he professes to have learned most from in Ryder Cup combat.

“The one thing I am proud of is my singles, not having lost,” he said.

“I’ve been very close a number of times but I haven’t lost. I don’t like to lose. I think that’s kept me going.”

But there is tension, too, and it surfaced at a press conference this morning when he was asked a direct question about the effect of his divorce, which was rushed through last week on the grounds of his unreasonable behaviour – i.e. his obsession with golf – and will become absolute over the coming months.

“I’m here as part of a European team and I’m here for a team competition this week,” answered Montgomerie.

“Please keep your questions to a team format and, if you don’t mind, no personal questions. I don’t mean to be rude in any way.”

He wasn’t. But the old Monty would not have ducked the question. The old Monty would have bitten off the question mid-sentence, might well have chewed off the head of the reporter for asking it and then gone on to answer in the fulsome and intelligent manner for which he is famed.

Come Friday when Montgomerie tees off in the morning fourballs, almost certainly with Padraig Harrington whom he partnered today, the questions on the course will be even tougher for the man whose slump has seen his world ranking slide to 62 and who is in Detroit courtesy of a captain’s pick.

“We’re a very close-knit team and that’s where the pressure builds from,” explained Montgomerie.

“It’s about not letting down your 11 other team-mates. You do not want to let down 11 guys who have tried and qualified and give their all.

“But I enjoy this competition. I think my character and my personality come out in this event.”