Colin Montgomerie insists Tiger Woods will win two major titles in 2012
Despite all the criticism and mudslinging Tiger Woods has faced in the past two years and continues to face to this day, Colin Montgomerie has always been an ardent supporter of the former world number one and considers him one of the best stories of modern day sport.
The Englishman threw his support behind the 36-year-old Stanford graduate and went to the extent of predicting that Woods will go on to win no fewer than two major titles this year.
"A Tiger victory at the Masters would be the best story for golf," Montgomerie said.
He continued, "He [Woods] hasn't played that much in the last two years and so can move back up more quickly because of how the rankings work".
Woods played brilliantly at the closing of the last season on the PGA Tour, pulling in several strong finishes before marching on to card a win at the Chevron World Challenge to break his two-year-long winless streak.
Winner of 14 major titles, Woods is the only player in the history of the sport who holds any chance of breaking Jack Nicklaus’ record of 18 major titles.
While Montgomerie’s words may come as a welcome respite during testing times, Woods is more than aware of the fact that he will be treading on a course he has never played before.
Not only that, he will be wrestling his way up against one of the most formidable fields ever assembled in any of the Middle Eastern turf.
Three of the four major champions, including Charl Schwartzel, winner of the Masters, Darren Clarke, winner of the Open and Rory McIlroy, winner of the US Open, will be part of the field alongside four top ranking players on the OWGR.
Former world number one German Martin Kaymer boasts of one of the most spectacular winning sprees here in Abu Dhabi and has won the title three times in the last four years.
He will also be starting his 2012 season here in Abu Dhabi and will be pitched to repeat history to lift the title yet again.
World number one Luke Donald and number two Lee Westwood are also in their primes for the moment and both have won several titles last year to consolidate their position on the OWGR.
Woods made several changes at the closing session of the year and is currently playing with Dustin Johnson’s former caddie Joe Lacava. He has also employed a few changes in his swing under the patronage of Sean Foley.
Montogomerie, who has now fallen well below on the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR), was part of the field at Volvo Golf Champions in South Africa, an invite-only event on the European Tour, where he posted another lacklustre finish.
The Englishman has won no fewer than 40 professional titles, 31 of them coming on the European Tour and is regarded one of the unfortunate English players who fell short of pulling in a major title in their stellar careers.
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