Happy Monty spreading the love in the USA

 Post by Sports Writer Derek Clements 

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THERE are some things you thought you would never hear. Colin Montgomerie saying that he loves America and American golf fans is one of them. American golf fans loving Monty is another.

But in a recent interview with Golf Magazine, the 51-year-old Scot insists that he is now enjoying a bit of a love-in with fans on the other side of the pond. And he even claims that he was to blame for stirring them up in the first place. My recollection of events is rather different, but it is perfectly understandable that Monty would want to try to put things right.

"For the first time, I have given them something back," Montgomerie said. "They were always reasonable. I wasn't. ... I was too intense. I was going through a time when I wanted the best for my family, I was trying to do my job. [The American fans] were always there wanting to warm to me, but I wasn't allowing it. Now I'm allowing it. I'm more relaxed, and they see that and are warming the other way. It's taken both sides to make it click."

The hate-hate relationship began at the 1997 US Open at Congressional, when a rowdy gallery verbally abused Montgomerie, and the Scotsman replied with a few choice words of his own. He was dubbed Mrs Doubtfire after the Robin Williams character in the film of the same name, and so began years of abuse.

When the Scot says that it was his own fault, he has clearly forgotten the 1999 Ryder Cup at Brookline, when Payne Stewart had to shield him from the worst excesses of a fiercely patriotic crowd. The abuse was so bad that, in the end, Stewart picked up Monty's golf ball and conceded the match and the point to him. Montgomerie's father was so upset by the behaviour of the crowd that he had to walk away.

He got his own back with some memorable performaces in the Ryder Cup, never losing a singles match, and really rubbed it in when he captained Europe to victory at Celtic Manor in 2010. But he never managed to win a tournament in the United States - something that was a source of regret to him until he finally put it right when he joined the Champions Tour.

“I made a mistake and answered back,” he said years later of his reaction to fans at Congressional. “And I paid for it for about 10 years.”

Against all the odds, Montgomerie has become an unlikely crowd favourite on the Champions Tour. He is happy to chat with fans who recognise him (and, let's be honest, he is pretty unmistakeable), and with his new outlook has come renewed success. In his rookie season on the senior circuit in 2014, the 31-time European Tour winner and five-time major runner-up won back-to-back major championships at the Senior PGA and U.S. Senior Open.

Montgomerie believes his role as an analyst on the Golf Channel also helped introduce fans to a friendlier Monty. "I'm relaxed and myself on the set," he said. "I think that's helped my persona with the American public. The first thing people say to me is not, 'Great score!' It's 'I saw you on TV - you are great.' I really do enjoy it. Now I'm the happiest I've ever been," he said.

Image Credit - Seniors European Tour Twitter