Profile / Bill Elliott / 20 October 2008 / Leave a comment

Colin Montgomerie is one of golf's genuine stars but, by his own high standards, his recent form has been pathetic, says Bill Elliott.

The big man is as big as ever except when it comes to his golf game. As the 2008 season draws to a close is it time to consider Colin Stuart Montgomerie toast?

Well, all the weary signs of terminal decline are there. He wildly missed the cut in last week's Portugal Masters, his five over par score leaving him a notional 101st after two rounds and this on a course set up for birdies.

Anyone can have a poor week? Yes, of course, but consider his last five events before this Portuguese disappointment and factor in these finishing positions...86th, 94th, 38th, 149th, 77th. By his own high standard over so much of the last two decades these are pathetic.

Now 45, the wear and tear of global travelling and competing at the highest level is reducing the old warhorse to a pale imitation of the player he was. In this sense his failure to make the Ryder Cup team this year may have been the final cruel blow to a proud man's spirit.

He will deny this of course but while he can still make a decent living on the European Tour only a supreme optimist would now suspect that he has the ability to explore again the game's highest plateaux. For Monty the big moments are history. His world ranking, 101st, confirms his withdrawal to the shadows offered by the game's chorus line. His putting meanwhile offers only a car-crash attraction.

There should be no rejoicing at this inevitable dilution of one of the best competitors to emerge on this side of the Atlantic. He will be missed as a star because this is exactly what he has been for so long, a genuine star.

Yes, there have been times when his daft laddie persona has emerged and encouraged the sort of juvenile, temper-tantrum behaviour that may only be countered by a short, sharp slap and an early supper but for the most part he has graced Europe's top table more than anyone in recent times.

For great stretches of this time he has single-handedly taken care of the need for media exposure, offering himself constantly as a figure of interest, of fun and, occasionally, of ridicule. Never, however, has he been boring. Never has he hidden from the spotlight.

He was a good enough player to have won at least a couple of majors. That he didn't is a reflection of the arbitrarily unfairness of the game. Being good at golf isn't enough, a man needs a smidgeon of luck now and then and when Montgomerie needed it most he didn't get it.

The big exception to this general thought came at the United States Open two years ago when he only had to sweep a seven iron approach on to the final green to secure victory. Instead the long wait for his first major encouraged too much pressure and he fanned his ball wide of the mark and into deep clag. When he comes to reflect on an outstanding career this will be the moment he will regret most.

Now he has a big choice to make. Remarried this year and settled anew in Scotland, he has no need to continue embracing a career as a golfer in decline. Articulate and intelligent, sociable and charming when he wants to be, Monty has many alternatives.

A stellar career in the media - certainly a potential successor to Peter Alliss when the old boy finally decides to stand aside - beckons if he wants it while his course design and corporate consultancy work continues to wax rather than wane.

It will not be the same without him, for us or for him, just as there is no pleasure being taken in this quarter at his dramatic fall from high grace this year. If he chooses to go then he will do so with applause ringing in his ears. Eight European No.1 titles will offer some consolation, as will his bravura performances in so many Ryder Cups.

His problem, however, will be his sense of loss, of time and place and the velvety stuff that comes when you are an outstanding sportsman. Colin Montgomerie always loved these trumpet calls of acclaim.

Putting his feet up back home in Auchterarder may offer some serious comfort but it will still leave a huge gap in his life. Of course he may elect to give it one last go next year but, you know what, I hope he doesn't.

There are better things for the big man to do than make up the numbers and he is smart enough to know it. At least I think he is.