With earnings of $1.5 million from his last four tournaments, Colin Montgomerie has enhanced his position as one of the world's most successful players. The 34-year-old Scot could certainly justify his departure yesterday on a Caribbean holiday, having won the Andersen Consulting World Championship in Arizona.
Montgomerie's reward of $1 million from a 36th-hole victory over Davis Love came after similarly dominant play towards the end of last year. As leader of the European Order of Merit for a record fifth successive season, he won the Hassan Trophy in Morocco and then the individual title in the World Cup.
A stunning, 22-under-par total of 266 at Kiawah Island for a reward of $100,000 (he also picked up $100,000 as runner-up with Raymond Russell in the main, team event), was Montgomerie's first victory on US soil. Now, with a semi-final defeat of US Open champion Ernie Els and a final triumph over the USPGA champion, he has beaten the holders of two major titles.
In the process, he played a three-iron approach to the final hole which must rank among the finest shots he has ever executed. We shouldn't be surprised - Montgomerie gained the award of "Canon Shot of the Year" for 1997 in acknowledgment of a wonderful three-wood off the 18th tee at Valderrama in his critical Ryder Cup battle with Scott Hoch.
After being four up with four to play against Love, he faced a potentially disastrous crisis over the finishing holes. He lost the 33rd to a birdie and though Love also birdied the short 34th, a par would almost certainly have been enough, given Montgomerie's wayward tee-shot.
Then the Scot went on to lose the 35th, which he three-putted. Against all the odds, the American managed to take the match the full distance. Montgomerie would have been painfully aware of this as he stood over a three-iron second shot of 219 yards to the par-five, final hole.
Given that he still held the lead, the safe option would have been to guide the shot towards the left side of the green, well away from the menacing water on the right. To his credit, however, he had the courage to attack the pin, bringing the ball to rest less than 10 feet away.
It was the American, 20 yards closer to the green, who took the cautious line with a five iron that finished more than 30 feet left of the target. Not only had Montgomerie struck a winning blow, but he had done so in the most emphatic manner imaginable.
"When you've lost three-in-a-row you can't help thinking about Calcavecchia in the Ryder Cup - and I did," Montgomerie admitted afterwards. This was a reference to an infamous singles battle between himself and Mark Calcavecchia in the 1991 clash at Kiawah Island.
Four up with four to play on that occasion, the American proceeded to lose the last four holes and was devastated to emerge with only half a point from what had seemed a certain win. In fact Montgomerie won the short 17th with a double-bogey five after Calcavecchia was twice in water.
Referring to Sunday's effort, the Scot went on: "I would have been delighted with that shot in a practice round, never mind with the pressure that was on at that time. "To come to America and beat two major champions of 1997 - two players ranked ahead of me in the world and two players I very much respect - is a very good start to 1998. I'm not saying it's `The Year of the Monty', but to have won a million dollars by January 4th is very satisfying."
Right now, it seems that Montgomerie can do no wrong. Having been the golfing world's biggest tournament earner in 1996 with a haul of $3.071 million, he has now enhanced that status with $3.35 million for 1997 (Officially, last Sunday's was a 1997 event).
Over that period, he has won two one-million-dollar prizes, his first coming at Sun City in November 1996 when he beat Els in a play-off for the title. In between, however, the gifted South African out-scored him in the US Open at Congressional last June when Montgomerie bogeyed the 71st hole after a superb par by Els.
The Chinese will be celebrating the start of "The Year of the Tiger" later this month, but Montgomerie will not see that as an omen. Even if he should retain his Masters title in April, last season showed that where the Tiger was concerned, the other major championships were on far less favourable terrain than Augusta National.
There is no chance of the pair clashing in the opening event of the European Tour in two weeks, despite the presence of Woods in the Johnnie Walker Classic in Phuket, Thailand. While Woods returns to the land of his mother, where he won last year, Montgomerie will be taking an extended break.
The Scot will not be returning to action until the Desert Classic in Dubai, starting on February 26th. This particular scheduling worked perfectly for him two years ago when, in his first appearance of the European season, he captured the title by a stroke from Spain's Miguel-Angel Jimenez.
Meanwhile, Montgomerie looks set to serious challenge Greg Norman as the top earner in the history of the game. His latest success has brought his career earnings to $14.2 million, lifting him to seventh in the all-time list.
The six ahead of him are: 1 Norman $20.5 million; 2 Jumbo Ozaki $17.0 million; 3 Bernhard Langer $16.5; 4 Fred Couples $16.1 million; 5 Nick Faldo $15.8 million; 6 Nick Price $15.5 million.
Of considerable significance, however, is the fact that Couples is the only one of that group to be under 40. Montgomerie's schedule this year will be split equally between Europe and the US.
