Tiger Woods unlikely to win again on PGA Tour, says Colin Montgomerie

Monty recalls Tiger’s greatness at the 1997 Masters and hopes for another Tiger comeback.

HAVERHILL, Mass. — If this Senior golf thing doesn’t work out for Colin Montgomerie, the winner of three Champions Tour major titles may want to try stand-up.

Monty, making the rounds in the Boston area ahead of this week’s U.S. Senior Open, regaled a group of golfers at Renaissance Golf Club on the eve of his early-morning tee time at nearby Salem Country Club and had them rolling in the aisles with tales of the over-50 set and Ryder Cup victories and defeats.

But it was his recollection of his head-to-head tilt with Tiger Woods in the 1997 Masters that cemented Montgomerie’s place in history as one of golf’s most gifted raconteurs.

Woods may have published a book about his memories of the historic 12-shot victory in his first major, but a Monty memoir of that event would certainly be far more entertaining. Indeed, he has often recounted his remembrance of his first encounter with the 21-year-old future superstar — how he shot a second-round 66 to make it into the final pairing with Woods on Saturday, believed he held an advantage over the new kid thanks to his seven previous Masters starts, started the day 6-under to his playing partner’s 9-under, and told the media after the round that Tiger had the green jacket sewn up and would win the tourney by more than nine shots.

Wednesday evening, Montgomerie’s repertoire was full of zingers.

“Greg Norman was six ahead of [Nick] Faldo on the last day [of the ’96 Masters], and everyone thought it was over and of course it wasn’t,” Montgomerie said, recalling one of the sport’s most incredible collapses. “So they [reporters] said to me, ‘Well, Tiger Woods is now nine ahead, is this over?’ and I said, ‘um hum, um hum, of course it’s over.’ You haven’t witnessed what I just witnessed.

“Second place was Constantino Rocca at the time, and he was no Faldo,” said Montgomerie with a grin as he loaded up the punchline. “So he wasn’t catching anybody; he was just there. He was there to sign Tiger’s card.”

Montgomerie was not above a bit of self-deprecation as he recapped his introduction to the young phenom.

“It was the first time that Tiger had really come out [and] I was No. 2 in the world at the time and felt I had more experience,” Monty related. “So we go to the first tee and I thought let’s see what happens, with everyone talking about this Tiger Woods.”

What happened was Monty bested Tiger on the first shot of the day.

“In those days, the tee was more forward and I could just about get to the end of the bunker on the right-hand side [at Augusta National]. I hit the downslope of the bunker and it shot forward, about a 20-yard gain, and outdrove him,” Montgomerie said with a huge smile. “And that was the last time I saw Tiger Woods for the rest of the day.”

Except not quite. After both players made par on the first hole, Woods blasted a drive down the second fairway Monty had “never seen the like of” before.

“I'm at the top of the hill hitting a 4-wood [to the green] and he hit a 9-iron over the back, chipped up and of course holed it,” said the Scot, who contended that he knew he was in the presence of greatness after watching that display of power and finesse from his opponent.

“It was the way that he went around that golf course and the confidence and the belief that he had in what he was doing,” said Montgomerie, who celebrated his 54th birthday on June 23.

The World Golf Hall of Famer noted after that round (“he shot 65; I shot my usual third-round 74”), which ended with Tiger hitting driver, sand wedge to the back pin for a kick-in birdie, that Woods was truly extraordinary.

“I’ve seen something special here, very special,” Montgomerie recalled saying back then.

Monty was also one of the first observers to predict that the violence with which Woods hit balls would take its toll on his health. Now, with Tiger getting help for what appears to be an addiction to pills after being arrested for a DWI and on the DL again with nagging back issues, the European Ryder Cup hero would like to see the 14-time major winner back on the course.

Winning on the PGA Tour, however, is another thing altogether.

“Let’s hope he can [come back]. He's obviously in trouble now,” said Montgomerie, who, like many in the golf world, believed the Florida police releasing photos and videos of Woods’ DUI arrest was unseemly. “But let’s hope he gets better, and healthy, and comes back.”

Montgomerie believed it might be doable for Tiger to get back to where he once was, but he noted that he would have to surpass even his best to be able just to contend with the Rory McIlroys, Dustin Johnsons, and Jordan Spieths.

“I don’t think that’s going to be possible, to be honest,” he said. “If he can get back to the standard he was, that’s good enough for top five nowadays, But to win, the standard has gone past that. Let’s hope he can because it would be great for the game.”

Montgomerie, who got off to a 1-over 71 at Salem on Thursday, would also love to see Tiger out playing with the older set but wonders if that can ever happen.

“Tiger’s 42 in December, so he’s got another nine years to go before he’s out here,” the 2014 U.S. Senior Open champion said. “That’s a long time for someone who’s injured and hasn’t played.”