Colin Montgomerie has finally given up on his dream of “playing in one last Open Championship” at Royal Troon after conceding he can no longer compete at the highest level.
The 60-year-old Scot made his last appearance in golf’s oldest major in 2016 at his “home” course, which will host its 10th Open from 18-21 July.
Speaking at last year’s championship, Montgomerie said: “I’ll try and qualify for Troon. I did it in 2016. I’ll give it a go. I’d regret it if I didn’t.”
However, after confirming that he will be playing in the 2024 Senior Open at Carnoustie the week after The Open, Montgomerie simply replied, with a tinge of sadness in his voice, “no” when asked if he was still planning to try and qualify for the 152nd Open Championship.
He has a special affection for the Ayrshire links having grown up in a house on the road leading to the club and he learned how to play the game there. His dad served as captain, and later secretary, of Royal Troon.
The R&A gave Montgomerie the honour of hitting the opening tee shot in 2016.
“I would love to play but the course is getting longer and longer and I want to bow out at The Open as I did in 2016,” he told BBC Sport.
“I was proud of qualifying and making the cut but those days, sadly, are behind me.
“I’ll leave it to the bigger hitters. The distance those players now hit means I can’t compete. Technology has kept me going but I average about 275 yards off the tee, that is four-iron for these players.
“Yes you can get lucky and compete over nine holes but it’s not going to happen over 72.”
The competitive spirit still burns strongly in Montgomerie though.
While he famously never claimed a major title, he has picked up three senior majors since turning 50, winning the Senior US Open in 2014 and the Senior US PGA Championship in 2014 and 2015.
He would dearly love to add a Senior Open to that collection, having had a best finish of runner-up in 2014 at Royal Porthcawl – albeit a distant one behind Bernhard Langer.
Montgomerie used to be the joint course record holder at Carnoustie – a track he believes is the “hardest of all the Open venues” – until Tommy Fleetwood lowered that by one to 63 in 2017.
“I’m playing at Carnoustie because I can still compete,” he said. “If I didn’t think I had a chance of contending, I wouldn’t do it. I’m a contender as opposed to a competitor. That’s a big difference.”
The Seniors Open will be held for a third time at the Angus course on the east coast of Scotland from 25-28 July.
