Colin Montgomerie

Hometown

Glasgow

Scotland

Year Inducted

2013

Inducted Category

Competitor

Birthdate

Jun 23,1963

European Tour Wins: 31

1989: Portugese Open TPC
1991: Scandinavian Masters
1993: Heineken Dutch Open, Volvo Masters
1994: Peugeot Open de Espana, Murphy’s English Open, Volvo German Open
1995: Volvo German Open, Trophee Lancome
1996: Dubai Desert Classic, Murphy’s Irish Open, Canon European Masters
1997: Compaq European Grand Prix, Murphy’s Irish Open
1998: Volvo PGA Championship, One 2 One British Masters, Linde German Masters
1999: Benson & Hedges International Open, Volvo PGA Championship, Standard Life Loch Lomond, Volvo Scandinavian Masters, BMW International Open
2000: Novotel Perrier Open de France, Volvo PGA Championship
2001: Murphy’s Irish Open, Volvo Scandinavian Masters
2002: Volvo Masters Andalucia
2004: Caltex Masters
2005: Dunhill Links Championship
2006: UBS Hong Kong Open (won in 2015; counts toward 2016 European Tour season)
2007: Smurfit Kappa European Open

Senior Majors: 3

2014: Senior PGA Championship, U.S. Senior Open
2015: Senior PGA Championship

PGA TOUR Champions Wins: 4

2016: Pacific Links Bear Mountain Championship
2017: JAPAN AIRLINES Championship, SAS Championship
2019: Invesco QQQ Championship

International Wins: 2

2002: TCL Classic (Asian Tour)
2003: Macau Open (Asian Tour)

Additional Wins: 8

1996: Nedbank Million Dollar Challenge
1997: World Cup of Golf (Individual), Accenture World Championship of Golf, King Hassan II Trophy
1999: Cisco World Matchplay Championship
2000: Skins Game (U.S.)
2001: Ericsson Masters
2007: Omega Mission Hills World Cup

Walker Cup Apperances: 2

Player: 1985, 1987

Ryder Cup Apperances: 9

Wins in bold

Player: 1991, 1993, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2002, 2004, 2006
Captain: 2010

Awards & Honors:

European Tour Order of Merit: 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999
Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE): 2004
CPG Lifetime Achievement Award: 2020

More than two decades after his Ryder Cup singles debut in 1991, Colin Montgomerie still vividly recalls a pep talk he received from Bernard Gallacher on the fortitude needed to outlast Mark Calcavecchia, a dogged American whom the European captain described as a battler.

In spite of a five-hole deficit at the turn that remained at four with four holes left, the determined young Scot did not surrender. With six birdies on the back nine on Kiawah Island’s Ocean Course, Montgomerie rallied to steal a half point from an incredulous Calcavecchia. In eight career Ryder Cups, it was the closest Montgomerie came to defeat in a singles match. Impervious to the knee-buckling, hair-raising pressure of the biennial event, Montgomerie captured six singles wins from 1991 to 2006, while earning two halves. It prompted the late Seve Ballesteros to assert, “The Ryder Cup has Monty’s name engraved on it.”

“This is one of the finest moments of my golf career, no hang on, this is the greatest moment of my golf career.” – Colin Montgomerie, on winning the 2010 Ryder Cup

As Montgomerie enters the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2013, his triumphs in the Ryder Cup represent the most cherished moments of his four-decade career. On two occasions, the passionate, outspoken Scot clinched the winning points for the Europeans – unleashing jubilant, champagne-soaked celebrations. In 1997 at soggy Valderrama, Montgomerie bisected a curvy fairway with his drive on the par-4 18th and likely would have defeated Scott Hoch, 1 up, had Ballesteros not urged him to concede Hoch’s putt. Seven years later at Oakland Hills, Montgomerie sank a tricky 5-foot putt on the final hole to edge David Toms, 1 up, and seal the Europeans’ second consecutive win.

There is a distinct spot in Montgomerie’s heart reserved for the Ryder Cup. For all his success as a player, he derives the most pride from his win as captain of the European team in 2010 at Celtic Manor. In The Real Monty, Montgomerie’s 2012 autobiography, he wrote that while he’d be thrilled to win an Open Championship or another Major, neither would come close to the feeling he received by leading his team to victory.

“This is one of the finest moments of my golf career, no hang on, this is the greatest moment of my golf career,” Montgomerie said during his winning speech.

Born in Glasgow, Scotland, on June 23, 1963, but raised in Yorkshire, England, Montgomerie honed his skills from a young age at the Ilkley Golf Club in Yorkshire. The Alister MacKenzie course may be known most as the club where Harry Vardon won his first professional prize in 1893. Eventually, Montgomerie became one of the first British golfers to play collegiately in the United States when he walked on at Baptist College in Houston. Montgomerie’s father, James, then a secretary at Royal Troon, had a connection with the Christian liberal arts school’s golf coach through a minister. After college, he turned pro shortly after in 1987.

Fact

Colin Montgomerie carried the Olympic Torch through Aberdeen, Scotland in the run-up to the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.

Often regarded as the best contemporary golfer never to win a Major, Montgomerie finished second in professional Grand Slam events five different times.

Despite his inability to win a Major, Montgomerie ruled the European Tour in the 1990s. He was the Tour’s top player, and a number of his accomplishments are unparalleled. He owns the all-time record for European Merit of Order wins with eight. From 1993 to 1999, Montgomerie won the European Tour’s year-long money list competition in seven consecutive seasons, a mark that still stands. At 42, Montgomerie won his eighth and final Order of Merit in 2005.

He won 31 European Tour titles – a record by a British player – including three successive PGA Championships at Wentworth Club and, in total, 40 tournaments worldwide.

Above all, Montgomerie earned the respect of his peers with his illustrious Ryder Cup record. Lee Westwood, too, hadn’t forgotten Montgomerie’s remarkable rally against Calcavecchia moments after Europe’s win at Celtic Manor.

“He’s built up a legacy,” Westwood said. “It’s the cherry on the top, isn’t it, when you can become a winning captain.”

Colin Montgomerie was originally inducted through the International category.