Thumbs up or down

[Sean_A]

for Monty?  I have never been a big fan of Monty mostly because I think he had the talent to win a handful of majors, but his attitude held him back.  At Winged Foot I found myself cheering on the man because he "deserves" (if such a thing is possible) a major.  Reading the thread about Shack's website made me flip the channel and have a look.  The first thing I read is a slagging of Monty.  I was disappointed to find Shack jumping on a typical American bandwagon.  I have always thought that Monty was unfairly treated with disdain in the States.  Fans and media have been hounding this guy for for well on 10 years and much of it is undeserved (and I think a major reason why Monty chose not to play on the PGA tour more).  

During Ryder Cups US fans behaved abhorently toward the man.  To the point where Payne Stewart (is my memory on?) gave Colin a half on the 18th at Brookline because he was ashamed that any golf fans could treat a player so poorly.  My theory of Yanks hating foreigners is that it is mostly a flag waving hoo ha that is not really based in reality (ie American attitide toward the French - which by the way was inexcusable on this site as we had at least one Frenchman posting, unsurprisingly I haven't heard hide nor hair of the man in months- but perhaps the two aren't connected).  Behaviour is a two way street- a notion often ignored.  In any case, how do you all feel about Monty?

Ciao

Sean

[Glenn Spencer]

I like Monty a lot. I think he brings some of the crowd attention to himself by being such a policeman out there, but then again there are a lot of idiots that show up for American golf tournaments. I am of the opinion, that Stewart declared the match a wash as much because the Cup was decided at the time and not wholly because of the treatment by the fans. I think of Monty as the European version of Tom Kite. If not for Kite, Monty might have had a major already and if not for the strange day at Pebble and the luckiest 7th hole break I have ever seen, Kite would have never won a Major. I like Monty and will be rooting for him, not the case with Kite for me. Maybe Hoylake will be different, I doubt Medinah will, but Monty does owe Oakmont a thing or two.

[Bill_McBride]

I've been up and down on Monty over the years.  He can excel at petulance and shows his emotions very plainly.  This is what I think led to U.S. crowds riding him so hard.  

We saw a lot of him at the Open in St Andrews last July where he comported himself magnificently and really battled Tiger.  He's never been able to win one of these battles with Woods and once again fell apart down the stretch.  But the local Scots crowd was four square behind him and it was fun to watch.

I was rooting for him to come through at WF but he really did gag that last shot.  Given his extremely reliable fade, I thought he would follow his terrific tee shot to the perfect spot in the fairway with a solid iron shot to the center of the final green that might have faded toward the hole.  I was shocked by his failure to hit a good shot.  

Does this shot sum up Monty's career?

[Tony_Muldoon]

Sean

There are two sides to every story, here's an excerpt from the BBC sport website.

"Colin Montgomerie heads into the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles denying three allegations of bad behaviour at last week's US Open.
He was accused of throwing a tee at a spectator, barging into a policeman and snubbing the prize-giving ceremony.
But the Scot said: "I threw a tee towards somebody, but not at somebody.
"The state trooper bumped into me, not me into him. Jim Furyk and I were asked to attend the presentation though we didn't have to. We'd flights to catch."

Full story

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/golf/5098044.stm



Geoff writes fine books and I’ve paid good money for them.  But as to his website the following old chestnut holds true. “If this is the sort of thing you like then this is the sort of thing you’ll like”.  It lacks wit.

Monty I find it hard to care one way or the other despite the fact that controversy is never far away.  And besides as someone on here pointed out you can't see him being interviewed without thinking of "A close Shave" or "The Wrong Trousers".

[Bill_McBride]

Tony, is Monty Wallace or Grommit?

I guess after the US Open he is Grommit!  

[Tony_Muldoon]

Bill watch the way he draws the lips back before he starts talking, if I could do electronic editing I'l love to see him say "More tea, Grommit?"

[Gary Daughters]

Monty makes himself an easy target, which is part of his "appeal."  I find him hugely entertaining to watch, especially when he enters one of his ritual meltdowns.  I root for him despite myself and wish he would get his major, but as I said in a previous post I don't think he will let himself do it.

Was it David Feherty who started the "Mrs. Doubtfire" thing?  And is true that Monty refused to speak to him afterwards?

[Cliff Hamm]

Monty was treated abhorently at the Ryder Cup.  The Boston fans were all over him from calling out 'fat tuna' and numerous other derogatory remarks.  I do not believe anyone deserves such tratment and it is not appropriate to say he brings on such treatment.  With that being said Monty should have learned a long time ago to ignore comments, just stare ahead and play golf.  BTW on about the 6th tee or so at the Ryder Cup Payne turned to the fans and admonished them for their treatment of Monty.  Class move but nothing changed.

I recall Norman at the 86? open at Shinnecock going to the ropes and asking a fan if he wanted to take it to the parking lot.  Love had a  fan inappropriately removed over a very minor comment within the last few years.  If I recall correctly he threatened to leave if the fan were not removed.  Yet Love and Norman are both extremely well liked. All athletes (NBA players being at the top) need to learn to ignore the rudeness of American fans.  They are being paid pretty big bucks and unfortunately this comes with the territory.

[Bruceski]

My theory of Yanks hating foreigners is that it is mostly a flag waving hoo ha that is not really based in reality (ie American attitide toward the French?

Typical anti-American propaganda. To think that Americans reflexively root against foreigners flies in the face our great respect or love for players like Greg Norman, Gary Player, Ernie Els, Adam Scott, Sergio Garcia, and Nick Faldo. Even that obsessive/compulsive bore from Deutchland -- Bernhard Langer -- gets warm treatment from the Yanks. Monty is disliked because of his own gig: a pompous/arrogant rapport with the American fans. Like most other things in the US, if you do it well you will be liked. But you are also given enough rope to hang yourself.

[Jordan Wall]

I have always loved Monty.

Too bad he didnt get that US Open
 

[Matt_Sullivan]

I carried the scoreboard sign for Monty's group on the third day of the Caltex Singapore Masters that Monty won a few years ago.

He was a prick on the course. All traffic cop and snarls on the way to shooting a flawless 67. One of his playing partners was  Terry Price, an Aussie pro, who was a really nice guy and talked to us up and down the fairways. I was talking to Terry when Monty strode past us after smoking a three wood onto the green -- when I said "great shot" or words to that effect Monty looked at me with disdain and even a little bit of disgust or contempt.

A funny thing was that the third member of the group was a Korean pro (SK Ho, I think). Monty assumed that he spoke little or no English and so during the first 12 or so holes made various comments to Price about Ho. Not derogatory comments, but generally somewhat patronising (of the "not a bad player for a no name Asian guy" etc). Then Ho hits a lovely shot and responds to the congratulations with a couple of well formed English sentences, leaving Monty looking rather mortified!
 
After the round he was all smiles as he signed my wife's hat, thanked her for helping officiate and so forth.

Last year we ran into Monty at the HSBC event in Shanghai. We were in the hotel where the players were staying when Monty strode by. My wife smiled at him as he walked past (in that polite "strangers passing by" way) and Monty reciprocated with the beginnings of a smile until he realised that he didn't know my wife from Eve. He then hustled by, seemingly huffy that he had almost been tricked into giving away an unbudgeted piece of pleasantry.

Monty lived up to his reputation in our interactions with him. But I don't feel negative towards him. I think he is a complex character, which doesn't always play well with someone in the public eye. I'm not sure he is intrinsically better or worse than other sports stars, just more himself, and like with most of us it is not an always attractive self. He was my second pick for the Open after Ogilvy. He deserves to win one.

[PThomas]

down..too many stories about bad behavior

and I disagree with those who say he deserves to win an Open or that he is owed a major by the golf gods...noboyd owes him anything.

he'd have that first major now if he makes a par from the middle of the fairway...instead, he choked like a dog

he's never won a major or in the US....I think you can argue he is vastly overrated

[Mark_F]

Monty is human, seemingly unafraid of showing us the real him, warts and all.

Therefore, he is far preferable to the stage managed Tiger Woods, who offers that false smile and expects us all to fall for it.  

And sadly, the pathetic US media contingent, so enamoured of having the world's best player again after years of domination by great Aussies and Europeans, lap it up like the fawning lapdogs they are.

[Chris Kane]

Mark, when did Tiger smile?  I want the name of the tournament and the hole he was on.

[Mark_F]

Chris,

I'm sorry, understand, this was only a rumour.

I should have checked it out before posting.  

My mistake, although a wild guess would be the day he signed the contract to play the New Zealand Open.

[Tim Pitner]

Monty deserves credit for his Orders of Merit and his stalwart play in Ryder Cups--he's really been quite phenomenal.  And, he has some interesting things to say in interviews.  He's a bit like Duval--he'll say what's on his mind even if he probably shouldn't.  As an American, I was thoroughly ashamed of the way he was treated at Brookline; that was truly disgusting.  

With all that said, I still can't bring myself to really like Monty.  The drop last year (at Jakarta?) was ridiculous--how do you not realize your ball is no longer on a downhill/sidehill lie and your stance is no longer affected?  And, he needed a good finish there to get back in the top 64 in the world.  Very fishy.  I don't know what the facts are regarding this throwing of the tee incident at Winged Foot, but it doesn't sound good.  If true, his conduct would be inexcusable.

[George Pazin]

Generalizing about nationalities - or most other groupings - is rarely a good thing.

Americans didn't treat Monty poorly, a bunch of drunk jackasses did.

I would have thought the intelligent folks on this site would understand the difference.

As for Monty, he seems like a great guy in interviews, it's a shame he can't show it on the course. If I had to guess, I would speculate that he learned long ago the best way to maximize his performance on the course is to behave as he does.

Hogan was quiet, Trevno talked nonstop. People are people, the whole world over, something everyone might consider before posting weak generalizations.

I hope someday "we" as a world community can get over stereotyping, but since "we" as a golf site tend to stuggle with it, I'm guessing I'll never see it in my lifetime. So I personally will just continue to treat others as I always have, as I would like to be treated myself.

[A.G._Crockett]

Let's see...

A recent list of negative actions:
He played fast and loose with the Rules; some would say cheated.
He throws things at little boys who kneel down.
He is rude, at the very least, to officers of the law.
 
A recent list of positive actions:



O.K., I'll go thumbs down.  BTW, I don't care where he's from.  I don't like spoiled, arrogant, petulant types no matter what nationality they are.  

Plus, he jiggles in all the wrong places when he walks.

[Jason Topp]

Thumb up

I'm sure all the negative stuff is accurate, but he is one of the more fascinating players for me to watch.

How could someone be so good under the extreme pressure of the Ryder Cup and so bad under pressure in major stroke play events?  If you watch some of the Ryder Cup hilights, he has been amazing and decisive in critical moments.  In majors he is tentative and always seems headed for a train wreck.

Golf truly is a game played between the ears.

[Glenn Spencer]

I can think of no better way to put Winged Foot behind you and get ready for Hoylake!!

[Matt MacIver]

Where there's smoke there's fire, and Monte continues to create his own flames, which drive me crazy because I want to like the guy.  Why, I don't know -- maybe I want to like everybody.  

In reality there are very few golfers I DON'T want to see win a Major -- I'm usually just rooting for a shoot-out on the back 9 by a few battle- tested vets.  Which we had at WFW....and then the other guy won.  Now someone new to pull for.  

[Jim Nugent]

Thumb up

I'm sure all the negative stuff is accurate, but he is one of the more fascinating players for me to watch.

How could someone be so good under the extreme pressure of the Ryder Cup and so bad under pressure in major stroke play events?  If you watch some of the Ryder Cup hilights, he has been amazing and decisive in critical moments.  In majors he is tentative and always seems headed for a train wreck.

Same is true for the Euro Ryder Cup team overall.  During the RC they seem to play like top ten or better players on a hot streak.  Outside the Cup, a very different story.  

For many players on the US team, the reverse is true.  The mystery of the Ryder Cup.  

On the question of this thread: thumbs down.  For the same reasons A.G. gave.  

[TEPaul]

I like Monty too but there is no question at all that when it comes to figuring out how to get a crowd on his side the guy just doesn't understand how to get out of his own way and he never will---if in fact he even cares to.  

I like the way he reacts in interviews sometimes though. When they asked him in the US Open what he thought about some snide remarks from the crowd he just said, with a big smile, that it's probably true that a lot of sun and a lot of alcohol just don't mix all that well.  

[Dan Boerger]

I've never been a big fan of Monty, and I seriously doubt he'll win a major (although I never thought he would get this close past 40!). His approach shot on 18 really sums up (at least to me) his major play -- he simply doesn't rise to the occasion. It was a terrible shot from a player of that caliber. I don't think he made a bad first putt  on 18, since he probably thought he needed a par to get to a playoff with Mickelson.

That stated, he certainly whups the Yanks in Ryder Cup play!

[John Keenan]

A local sports writer who has covered and interviewed Monty on many occasion noted that you never are sure what Monty will show up. The friendly and engaging Monty or Monty the  mean grump. Seems he has some serious mood swings Best advice he had was to treed lightly when dealing with Monty. I must note that Lee Trevino is a lot friendlier and happy when the TV cameras are on him. When they are away is not exactly the friendly sort.

Overall I like Monty and I am a Yank. He has done well on the European tour so no one can really question his ability. Seems when he flies over the pond his game has more issues.

Overall I fully agree with TEPaul he does not know how to get the crowd on his side. Will he win a major? The odds are against it from my point of view but then again stranger things have happened.