Colin
Montgomerie won his first World Matchplay Championship title and equalled the
modern European Tour record by taking his sixth victory of the year on Sunday.
The 36-year-old Scot deposed
American Mark O'Meara as champion after he took the first two holes of the day
with birdies and never surrendered the lead in a 3 and 2 triumph.
His sixth victory of the year in Europe, which earned him 170,000 pounds, matched
the modern European Tour record set by Seve Ballesteros of Spain in 1986 and equalled
by Nick Faldo of Britain in 1992.
Montgomerie, who lost to Ernie Els in 1994 in his only previous appearance in
the final, led by five holes after 13 in the morning but O'Meara won the 17th
and 18th and then the second in the afternoon to cut the deficit to two.
But he never got any closer than that, and when Montgomerie holed a 12-foot putt
for birdie at the 33rd, he was three up with three to play.
Both missed the green in two at the next and O'Meara holed a brave 15-footer for
par. But Montgomerie sank his three-footer for victory.
Montgomerie, who will have a troublesome tooth extracted on Monday, said the 33rd
was the crucial hole.
"I
had 218 yards into a cold wind and hit a very good three iron right at it and
left myself below the cup. Mark's putt that he missed gave me a good line and
I was able to hole it," he said.
Montgomerie also won the British PGA title on the same Wentworth course this year
- giving him 386,000 pounds from the two events.
"I
think the more I play here the better I read the lines. I putted very well this
week as I did in May at the PGA," he said.
"This
wins means a great deal to me. Anytime the tournament has the word 'world' in
the title, it means a lot," he said.
O'Meara, who also won the Masters and British Open last year, said he was disappointed
that he did not respond better to the challenge in the afternoon.
"I needed to come out smoking this afternoon
and I didn't do that," O'Meara said. "But Colin is just a fine player. He drove
the ball phenomenally this morning and hit a lot of great iron shots.
"This afternoon he played smart, composed
golf. All the pressure was on him because he had to hold on to the lead while
I didn't have anything to lose.
"I
am happy for Colin. He deserved to win today and he showed the kind of champion
he is. There is not one American player who does not respect the way he plays
the game."
O'Meara added
that it would be good if Montgomerie played more in the States but he understood
the Scot's allegiance to Europe because he has a young family and his feelings
after the recent Ryder Cup when he had to endure taunts from the crowd..
O'Meara's remarks came just two days after Montgomerie said he would play less
in the United States next year because of the insults he had to bear at the Ryder
Cup.
The 42-year-old American
said he exceeded his own expectations this week because of a neck problem which
struck him early in the week and which moved down to his lower back on Sunday.
"I had to guts it out because
I didn't know where the ball was going and I'm proud of the way I hung in there
this week."
O'Meara, who
chipped in to beat Nick Price in Saturday's semifinals after being three down
at lunch, said his neck was better on Sunday than it has been all week .
Montgomerie appeared far less affected by his tooth problem than O'Meara was by
his ailments and started brilliantly when he rifled a six-iron to four feet for
a birdie at the 471-yard opening hole as O'Meara missed the green.
Then Montgomerie put down a 10-foot putt for birdie at the 155-yard second, again
after the American missed the green with an eight iron, and he won three holes
out of four from the 10th to put himself in a commanding position at five ahead.
He won the 17th with a birdie
and Montgomerie's three wood at the 501-yard 18th finished just a foot into the
deep rough from where he could only chip out.
When he could not get on the green in three and missed his chip, he conceded O'Meara's
eagle putt.
