While the best days of Colin Montgomerie’s playing career were behind him by 2008, the Scot had clearly lost none of his competitive edge as he went into the final round of that year’s Open de France three shots off the lead.
Colin Montgomerie had won the Order of Merit for the eighth and final time in 2005, while he had won the European Open two years later.
Many would have fancied his chances of winning on the European Tour for a 32nd time with one round to go at Le Golf National, with the leader playing in only his 17th event at the highest level.
It seems that Montgomerie himself was among those who felt confident.
What Colin Montgomerie said before the final round of the 2008 Open de France to inspire a rookie to his first win
Montgomerie outlined how difficult it was going to be for the youngster – whose name seemingly escaped him – to get across the line, suggesting that he would flounder if he failed to show any patience.
That youngster turned out to be Pablo Larrazabal, who has since gone on to play more than 460 tournaments on the DP World Tour.
His first victory did indeed come in France 17 years ago as he finished four shots clear of Montgomerie.
And speaking on the Life on Tour podcast, Larrazabal admitted that Montgomerie provided all the motivation he needed to go on and win for the first time.
“I remember the day before, on the Saturday night, I was reading some news and it was a sentence that fired me up big time from Mr Colin Montgomerie. On Saturday, he was talking to the press and he didn’t know my name. He called me that young Spaniard, said he’s going to choke tomorrow. Because I was playing with Soren Hansen in the last group. I have to thank him, because he’s a true gentleman and he helped me a lot because he’s a very calm guy. But Colin said to the press that the young Spaniard is probably going to choke tomorrow because he’s very young and he doesn’t have any experience,” he said.
“He said, ‘Lee Westwood and I, we have a big chance to win tomorrow’. So, sorry Colin, I think it was the last tournament you were in contention for in your European Tour career. You had a super successful career, but sorry to destroy your career. Thanks for those words, it fired me up big time.
“But the story didn’t finish there. My next tournament was the Scottish Open. So looking on Tuesday at the tee times, to my surprise, I was teeing up the first two rounds with Lee Westwood and Colin Montgomerie. So Thursday, we were teeing up. You know Loch Lomond, it was packed with people. It was 25,000 in Loch Lomond every single day and over the weekend, probably 35,000.
“So we’re playing in the afternoon and I told my caddie to walk over. I normally arrive first on the tee box, but I told him, hey, I’m arriving last. So three minutes before the tee time, I go and I say, ‘Mr Montgomerie, finally we meet. My name is Pablo Larrazabal and it’s nice to meet you’. So you cannot imagine the Scottish people, they start laughing. I said it loud for the people to hear.
“Since then, he’s been very, very good to me and we had a good time. But those moments at the French Open were really, really good.”
Further disappointment lay ahead for Colin Montgomerie as the Ryder Cup loomed
Montgomerie was under a lot of pressure at that stage of the year. Thoughts were really turning to the 2008 Ryder Cup at Valhalla, and the 45-year-old had registered just one top 10 on the European Tour that season before that week in France.
He had not missed a Ryder Cup since his debut in 1991. Of course, he had been Europe’s talisman for much of that time.
Unfortunately, results did not improve. Montgomerie missed the cut at Loch Lomond.
And when the time came for Sir Nick Faldo to name his captain’s picks, he opted for Ian Poulter and Paul Casey.
It indeed marked the end of Montgomerie’s playing career in the Ryder Cup, as he succeeded Faldo as the European captain for 2010’s event at Celtic Manor.
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