Colin Montgomerie (Part 1)
The Ryder Cup is scheduled to start in Wales in a few days time as this biennial event has gripped the world of golf and has got everyone excited. Apart from the participating players, captains of both the teams are in the spotlight as well and European
Team Captain Colin Montgomerie is no different.
Colin was born on 23 June, 1963 in Scotland. Even though he is Scottish by birth and ethnicity, he was raised in Yorkshire, England. His father, James, was the Managing Director of Fox’s biscuits. During his childhood, Monty spent a lot of time at the llkley
Golf Club. As a passionate student of golf, he was coached by Bill Ferguson. He completed his education at Strathallan School in Perthshire and later at the Leeds Grammar School. Along with being a golf fanatic, Colin was big football fanatic as well. When
Colin was in Leeds, he strongly supported Leeds United and is still a very passionate follower of the Glasgow Rangers.
His father later became the secretary of one of Scotland’s most eminent clubs, The Royal Troon Golf Club. Over the years, Montgomerie excelled at the sport and learnt the tricks of the trade. He also has the honour of being the first British golfer to attend
a college in the United States of America. Monty completed his higher education from Houston Baptist University. Taking cue from Colin’s example, a number of young British golfers pursued college life in the US as well.
During his amateur years, Colin won three significant Scottish Amateur tournaments, winning the 1983 Scottish Youth Championship, the 1985 Scottish Stroke Play Championship and the 1987 Scottish Amateur Championship. Monty also represented Scotland twice
in the Eisenhower Trophy. He even went to represent Ireland and Great Britain in the Walker Cup on two occasions.
Monty turned professional in 1988 and was awarded the Rookie of the Year Award on the European Tour in the same year. After registering a plethora of wins, Monty worked really hard to become one of Europe’s top professional players. He won his first event
at the Portuguese Open in 1989. His first win was by eight shots and it also landed him in his first Ryder Cup team in 1991. From 1993 to 1999, Monty finished first on consecutive occasions at the European Tour Order of Merit. On the Tour till date, Colin
has won 31 occasions. His triumphs include the 2000, 1999 and 1998 European PGA Championships. Montgomerie was ranked in the top ten in 1994 – a status he maintained for the next 400 weeks. The highest rank he got to was the number 2 position.
During his peak years, Colin was known as one of the best drivers of the world. He also became known as a very exact iron player.
After the turn of the millennium, due to marital problems, Monty experienced a downfall in his career. His ranking fell down to 82nd in the world. Montgomerie was married to Scottish Eimear Wilson and had three children Cameron, Olivia and Venetia.
Unfortunately in 2002, Eimear presented Monty with an option to choose either golf or her. They had trial separations and they finally got divorced in 2006. Eimear even sued Montgomerie for divorce on grounds of ‘unreasonable behaviour due to obsession with
golf’ and said that she got very depressed due to his antics with the game.
Since his divorce, Colin has had a number of relationships and affairs including Spanish model Ines Sastre and Jo Baldwin. Things started working out for Monty once again in 2007 when he got engaged to Scottish millionaire Gaynor Knowles. They got married
a year later in April at the Loch Lomond Golf Club.
Monty even claimed that his split from Eimear greatly affected his career. The charismatic golfer didn’t give up and came back strongly. At the end of 2004, Colin was named an officer of the Order of the British Empire. He also symbolized the Turnberry Resort
in Scotland where a Colin Montgomerie Golf Academy has been established. Despite getting divorced a year later, he won a record 8th European Tour Order of Merit and was back in the top 10 once again.
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