Monty finds himself in another controversy
By Ivan MaiselPINEHURST, N.C. – As Colin Montgomerie's career moves along the downward side of its curve, this should be the time when he bathes in the glow of his achievements. That's the way it usually works in golf. If you win for a long period of time, then begin to show your age, the tacit admission of mortality softens player and public alike.
Jack Nicklaus, always respected, wasn't loved until he reached his 40s. Nick Faldo, once as warm as a February morning in Piccadilly Circus, is reeling off one-liners on ABC. But it's not that simple with Monty. It never has been.
He will be 42 years old next week. He has finished atop the European Tour money list seven times. He finished second to Ernie Els in two U.S. Opens and lost the 1995 PGA Championship in a playoff. He has been a stalwart of the European Ryder Cup team in the last seven matches.
The heft of that career should be enough to erase the embarrassment of a very public divorce. It should be enough to erase the memory of his confrontations with American galleries. Monty never heard a taunt he could ignore. For a time, he had a way of turning the most staid golf crowd into bleacher bums.
That time is over now. This week at the 105th U.S. Open should be the time to apply the gilt to Colin Montgomerie. Instead, the golf world is wondering about his guilt.
In the second round of the Indonesian Open in March, Monty had an awkward lie on the edge of a bunker near the 14th green. As he tried to take a stance – moving this way and that, all without success– lightning flashed nearby. Monty turned around and headed toward the clubhouse. He left the ball in its place and did not put down a marker.
The next day, when he resumed play, Monty returned to the 14th and did not find his ball waiting for him. As per the Rules of Golf, he replaced his ball, and – what do you know? – had no trouble approximating a stance.
His playing partners approved his actions, and tournament director Jose Maria Zamora cleared Monty of any wrongdoing. According to the black and white of the European Tour, once the tournament is over, nothing else could be done.
In the gray of the locker room, however, the battle had just begun.
European Tour player Soren Kjeldsen watched video footage of where Monty attempted to take his stance before the storm and where he took it afterward. Kjeldsen saw enough of a difference that he brought it to the tour's attention.
"The guy just wanted to have an explanation, and he didn't get it, and I think that's why it was like a – what do we call it? – a fueled fire," Els said. "You get a little ignite somewhere and it becomes a huge, big inferno."
Monty, after conferring with tour officials, announced that he would donate his $46,200 in prize money for finishing fourth to the tour's tsunami relief campaign.
"I have now had a chance to look at the tapes," Monty said in a statement. "From professional and personal perspective, I was not comfortable with what I saw, and feel that I may have replaced the ball inaccurately, albeit unwittingly."
That might have been the end of it, but European Tour player Gary Evans charged last month, according to an Associated Press story, that "there has been smoke around Monty before."
At the 2002 Volvo Masters, Monty either had or hadn't addressed his ball on the green when it moved. Video clarified nothing, and neither Monty nor the rules officials assessed a penalty. But the incident left a mark on him. So has the Indonesian Open.
You have to understand: Most professional golfers would rather play an outing for free than air dirty laundry. But something about what Monty did in Jakarta struck a nerve in the golf world.
Montgomerie declined a request for an interview Wednesday morning. His agent, Guy Kinnings, said there is nothing else Monty can do.
"Hey, it's an important issue," Kinnings said. "The players feel very strongly about it. If he had been able to correct it at the time, he would have. He can't change the results of the tournament. He can't give the world ranking points back."
A voodoo master couldn't have conjured a sequence of events that could torture Monty any better, or longer. First the video review, then Evans' spouting off, then the world ranking points. At the cutoff to qualify for the U.S. Open, Montgomerie finished 50th, squeezing just ahead of Kirk Triplett for the final automatic berth. Without the Indonesian Open, he might not be in Pinehurst.
"It was poor," said Chubby Chandler, a top European Tour agent and a former player. "It was poor from Monty's side. It was poor from the European Tour's side. If it had been dealt with better at the time, it would be closed. Monty has been embroiled in the situation. He brought it on himself. At the end of the day, Monty played by the rules. The problem is, there was a lack of judgment in replacing the ball, which made it look very suspicious."
The nexus of integrity and personality is messy. If it hadn't been Monty, the issue wouldn't continue to come up month after month.
"It's still an issue because Monty is held up to a higher standard, as any top player in the world is and should be," Padraig Harrington said. "If it were another player, it would be done and dusted."
PGA Tour veteran Rocco Mediate said he would "bet his life" that Monty didn't intentionally give himself a better lie.
"I don't care what the situation was," Mediate said. "I don't think that's something he would do."
Monty is on the downside of his career. Just as he should be preparing for a victory lap around the golf world, he placed himself in the middle of another controversy. The victory lap has been put off for now.
Monty left his ball on the course in Jakarta in order to escape a lightning strike. He should have known better. He has been a lightning rod for too long.
Ivan Maisel is a senior writer for ESPN.com. He can be reached at Ivan.Maisel@espn3.com.
