He is the golfer with 31 victories who failed to win all eight playoffs he played in during his DP World Tour career

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The DP World Tour has been the home of some of the greatest golfers of all-time, with the likes of Seve Ballesteros, Bernhard Langer and Rory McIlroy enjoying huge success in Europe over the years.

Of course, Rory McIlroy is now a seven-time winner of the Race to Dubai on the DP World Tour after retaining his crown on Sunday.

With that, the Northern Irishman has edged in front of Seve Ballesteros, who won the Order of Merit six times.

There is just one name ahead of McIlroy now.

The legendary golfer with 31 victories who failed to win any of his eight playoffs on the DP World Tour

Colin Montgomerie had a fascinating career. While he never won a major before moving onto the senior tour, he was hugely successful on the European circuit.

He actually won the Order of Merit seven years in a row between 1993 and 1999. And he would add an eighth title in 2005.

You would imagine that McIlroy is now well placed to move alongside him in 12 months.

Montgomerie is perhaps best known for his exploits in the Ryder Cup. The Scot saved many of his best performances over the years for the event.

Famously, Montgomerie was never beaten in the eight singles matches. He secured the crucial half point to win Europe the trophy in 1997, before sinking the winning putt at Oakland Hills seven years later.

Given what he was capable of in the heat of the battle, it will surprise some to know that Montgomerie had a dismal record when he found himself in a playoff.

Montgomerie – who never won on the PGA Tour – ended up in a playoff on eight occasions during his European Tour career. That included additional holes at both the 1994 US Open and the PGA Championship the following year.

However, he ended up lifting the trophy on just one occasion – the 2002 Volvo Masters Andalucia. The playoff was abandoned due to darkness, meaning Montgomerie and Bernhard Langer shared the title.

Tiger Woods among the impressive list of players who beat Colin Montgomerie in a playoff

In fairness to Montgomerie, several of his seven playoff losses saw him beaten by some of the greats of the game, including Ballesteros, Sandy Lyle, Ernie Els, and Tiger Woods.

But it is incredible, given his ability to raise his game in the Ryder Cup, that Montgomerie did not emerge victorious in any of the playoffs he contested.

He did win a playoff on the Asian Tour in 2003, beating Scott Barr at the Macau Open.

Montgomerie did also triumph at the Nedbank Million Dollar Challenge in 1996, overcoming Els. However, that event would not become a DP World Tour event until 2013.

He has also been flawless in playoffs on the senior circuit, including at the 2014 US Senior Open.

It arguably makes what Montgomerie did achieve all the more remarkable. He now has the only European winner of the Career Grand Slam hunting down his record of eight Order of Merit victories.

And given that McIlroy is the only current member of the DP World Tour who has lifted the Race to Dubai title more than once, the pair look set to be out on their own for a very long time to come.