Monty expects Woods to return with even more motivation

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Colin Montgomerie is playing in the U.S. in a non-major or WGC event for the first time since 2008.

ORLANDO -- For many years, Colin Montgomerie was the man American golf fans loved to hate.

Granted, the passionate and proper Scotsman could be his own worst enemy at times. He had rabbit ears, and the more the heckling got to the eight-time Ryder Cupper the more the miscreants in the gallery poured it on.

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The emotion grew so intense that a national golf magazine tried to stem the tide, passing out "We Love Monty" buttons during the 1999 Ryder Cup at The Country Club in Brookline, Mass. And in the consummate act of sportsmanship that signature American Sunday, Payne Stewart would even concede a putt to halve his match with the beleaguered Montgomerie.

Now 46 and nearly three years removed from his 31st and most recent victory, the 2010 European Ryder Cup captain has evolved into one of the game's elder statesmen. And who better than Montgomerie to address the potential fallout from the fans that Tiger Woods might experience after his admission of infidelity?

Montgomerie is playing in the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard this week, making just his second appearance in the United States in 18 months. He said Woods' decision to return to competition at the Masters Tournament was a "shrewd" one given the more controlled atmosphere at Augusta National.

"You play accordingly. You act accordingly,'" said Montgomerie, who was once ranked No. 2 in the world. "I sometimes got it wrong. But it did fire me up, there's no question. ...

"I've heard where he said that he's nervous to come back, and that's the first time I've ever heard Tiger say those words and it's going to be interesting. ...

"He'll get over those nerves, and he will be as determined as anyone has ever been on a golf course to prove that he's still the No. 1 player in the world, and in my opinion, the best player ever to play the game."

Few Europeans, though, have ever been better than Montgomerie, who has been honored by both Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles. Only Seve Ballesteros and Bernhard Langer have won more European Tour events and no one has won more than his seven straight Order of Merit titles.

The only thing missing on Montgomerie's resume is a major championship. He's finished second five times, though -- three times at the U.S. Open and once each at the British Open and PGA. He also was the runner-up at the 1996 PLAYERS Championship.

Montgomerie, has been seeing of a changing of the guard of late, though. And it couldn't come at a better time for the European Ryder Cup captain who is seeking to avenge a lop-sided loss at Valhalla in 2008 as the matches at Celtic Manor in Wales fast approach in September.

For complete coverage of Tiger Woods' return to the PGA TOUR, click here.

The top three players in the Official World Golf Ranking are Americans. Three of the next four, though, are candidates for Montgomerie's team, as are nine of the players currently ranked in the top 20. And one, Irishman Padraig Harrington, who is ranked 10th, has won three of the last 10 majors.

The two finalists in the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship were English, as well. Ian Poulter, who was the lone bright spot in the losing European effort in Kentucky two years ago, picked up his first victory in the United States by a 4-and-2 margin over Paul Casey, who was playing for the title for the second straight year.

"What's happened is that you in America here set the standards and did right through the 80s, I suppose, and then we caught up now," Montgomerie said. "I'm not saying 'we' in Europe; I'm saying 'we' in the world. I'm saying the South Africans, the Australians, the Asians and the Europeans caught up; I'm not saying overtaken, but certainly caught up.

"And The Ryder Cup situation with our victories, to win five out of six the way we did there, was proof of that."

Montgomerie's own game, though, has gone in the opposite direction. His best finish on the European Tour in 2009 was a tie for 13th and this year, he's missed two cuts and tied for 60th in his only other start.

So Montgomerie, who attended Houston Baptist, went to Texas see his coach, Paul Marchand, on the way to Bay Hill. They isolated a few "issues" with Monty's swing and his course management, and he's excited to put them into play.

"I've practiced well here, so I look forward to not just compete here but to contend here, and then move forward from then on," Montgomerie said.

"I have a goal that I would love to win before The Ryder Cup starts. I'd like to stand in front of my team at the Opening Ceremony as a tournament winner myself this year."