Hurricane Golf's Jason Hiland recently had a chance to talk to Colin Montgomerie, a decorated player on the European & PGA Tour and victorious Ryder Cup Captain for the Europeans. Now a Golf Channel contributor, we really appreciated Monty taking the time out of his schedule to answer our questions.

 

Hurricane Golf: You have had an amazing career with 31 wins on the European Tour.  Of those wins is there one that really stands out as the best of the group and why is that win so special? 

 

Monty: The third win at The Volvo PGA Championship at Wentworth.  No one had ever before or since won it 3 times in a row.  So to date that is the one that is so special

 

Hurricane Golf: You have won 3 Majors on the Champions Tour.  They are not easy to win with the level of competition.  With those victories what kind of level of satisfaction did it bring you and did for a lack of a better word “Quiet” the critics who were asking when are you going to win that first major championship?

 

Monty: Critics will be critics at any level at any time, so in winning 3 Majors it was really more for  personal esteem than it was to silence anyone else Colin Montgomerie

 

Hurricane Golf: With you playing full time in America, what do you like most about the United States and what are some of your favorite cities that you have visited and why did you like them so much?  Also do you get recognized off the course much in the States or can you go about your business in a low key fashion?

 

Monty: The weather, the golf course set up is amazing, the competition and general way of life.  Favorite cities visited so far are the cosmopolitan cities NY, Chicago, San Francisco and New Orleans. Yes I get recognized as much for my work on The Golf Channel as I do for a golfer, and it is always extremely positive.

 

Hurricane Golf: What new equipment is in the bag for 2017 and what improvements are you seeing?  Also any new shafts and if so what brand and flex?

 

Monty: I have the new Callaway Epic driver, which I am finding longer but more important more forgiving than any other Callaway driver I have used in the past. 

No new shafts this year, my iron shafts are a Japanese Shimada shaft, that is very similar to the Nippon NS flex

 

Hurricane Golf: In all of the Sunday singles Ryder Cup matches you played, who was the toughest American you went up against head to head and what made that player hard to beat?

 

Monty: The two US Open Championship players were tough, Lee Janzen and Payne Stewart.  But the toughest opponent was Scott Hoch who hated to lose as much as I did.

 

Hurricane Golf: For most of your career you have played a professional baby fade.  Was this done by design and if so why?  Or was it just your natural ball flight? As a follow up to that, do you think amateur golfers should try to replicate that flight or should they try to play a draw for the most part?  Your opinion sir…..

 

Monty: I have a natural out to in swing which means that I naturally fade the ball.  This is great for iron play as I feel I can hit the ball the right distance more often, but I would agree that the perfect scenario would be to draw your woods for extra length and to fade your irons for extra control.

 

Hurricane Golf: From all the years on the European Tour that you have played,  If you could take 3 tour players to make your group what three would be most enjoyable/fun/witty to play with for a day?  And for arguments sake let’s assume your back home, what course in Scotland would you want to play with the group?

 

Monty: The course I would love to play most would be Turnberry as it has the most character of any of the links courses in Scotland.  The 3 Tour players would be the 3 guys that get on with it, my pet hate in the game is hanging around for people who aren’t ready to play when it’s their turn, so the 3 would be Ernie Els, Ian Woosnam and the current European Ryder Cup Captain Thomas Bjorn