He may look much the same, apart perhaps from the fact that he tends to smile a bit more out on the course than in the old days, but Colin Montgomerie swears he is a new "better person" than the one who refused to play second fiddle to anybody during a decade of dominance on the circuit.
That competitive streak still exists, but in what he professes is a "calmer" way. Montgomerie, who captured his first European Tour title in 13 months at the Murphy's Irish Open at Fota Island, explained: "I've had an awful good look at myself over the last eight months of my life and I think I am a better person now than I was, and that helps on a golf course environment as well when you are trying to do your job."
Today, Monty will be back in Ireland - after a flying visit home to London to take care of "some business" - when he will take a look at the progress work on the course he has designed at Carton House, near Maynooth, before heading on to The K Club this evening to start preparations for a crack at the Smurfit European Open which starts on Thursday.
A few weeks ago, after completing his closing round in the US Open at Tulsa, Montgomerie had remarked, half-jokingly, that he hoped Sergio Garcia would go on to win the title. "That will allow Sam to use me for one of his captain's picks," he said. Now, Montgomerie has put it into his own hands to claim an automatic place on the team to face the United States at The Belfry in September.
Perhaps more pertinent is what Montgomerie has had to do to reclaim his place on the winner's podium. Once upon a time, the Scot would take a break away from the game and, quite literally, not touch his clubs for weeks on end, while on other occasions a practice session consisted of no more than hitting a couple of dozen balls on the range.
In attempting to rediscover himself, though, he has now become a convert to the practice ground. It was something that was forced on him. "I'm working harder because I feel the standard has improved to such an extent that I have to.
"I feel what I was doing back in 1995, 1996 was okay at the time but with the emergence of top international players on tour like Clarke, Westwood, Harrington and Bjorn ... I could go on ... there was a danger that I could be left behind if I hadn't improved."
Montgomerie's approach to himself, as much as work on his game, has helped him return to winning ways and his Irish Open success has certainly made the next few weeks, the most lucrative on the European Tour, a far more appetising prospect. "If anyone takes a look at themselves, you discover nobody is perfect in this world. I changed a few things in my life and hopefully I am a lot better for it. I can still be a bit down in the dumps over my game, but I have still got a different attitude towards the game and my life. Hopefully that will continue."
During the time in the 1990s when he won seven European Tour Order of Merits, Montgomerie acknowledged that success bred success and he found himself "on a conveyor belt that I couldn't get off".
All which means that, now that he has removed that zealous quest to win no matter what the cost, the fact he has proven he can win with a different attitude is particularly gratifying to the player.
Not surprisingly, for somebody who has now won three Irish Opens, Montgomerie has already insisted that he will be back to defend his title at Fota Island next year. Of more immediate concern, however, is how his inland links course at Carton is coming on.
He'll find out for himself what the situation is when he visits the complex this afternoon; and we'll find out, come Thursday at Straffan, if he can maintain that winning feeling.
Meanwhile, the European Open has a number of notable players in the field who didn't make it to Fota Island. Retief Goosen, winner of last month's US Open at Southern Hills, pulled out of the Irish Open so that he could celebrate that major win at home in South Africa but he will play his first competitive event since that play-off win over Mark Brooks when he tees it up, while Bernhard Langer, Aaron Baddeley and Lee Westwood are also in the field.
Langer's participation has particular relevance to the Ryder Cup. Having based himself in the United States for much of this season, the German is a lowly 25th in the European qualifying table, some 230,000 behind Robert Karlsson, who currently occupies the 10th place in the list.
His recent form on the US Tour has been impressive and this week's event marks the start of a three week stint on the European Tour that also takes in the Scottish Open and the British Open. A good run over that stretch could well have Sam Torrance smiling, just as Monty's win on Sunday had the team captain grinning like a Cheshire cat.
