In an interview with Sky Sports, Colin Montgomerie has indicated that he will begin his career on the over-50s circuit at the Senior Players Championship in Pittsburgh on June 27. He turns 50-years-old on June 23. As a Monty fan and someone who wants him to play on the European Tour as much as possible, this is a little disappointing. It's quite shocking that he's going to miss the French (July 4-7) and Scottish (July 11-14) Opens after saying that those were two tournaments that he'd be certain to play. Especially his national open, which is quite baffling that he'd skip it in favor of the Senior U.S. Open. It's important to note that he's played five events this season and he'll need to play eight more on the European Tour to be included on the Race to Dubai money list (he's exempt until 2016). When the BMW PGA Championship rolls around in three weeks, he will have not played since the Avantha Masters (March 14-17).
The benefits of splitting time on both the regular and senior tours have the potential to be great for Monty. By playing on shorter courses on the senior tours, he will not be at a disadvantage in terms of distance like he faces most of the time on the regular tour. This, in turn, will give him confidence that he can do well and compete for a high finish, something he has not felt in the last three or four years. By gaining confidence from playing in the senior majors, he can take that confidence to the regular tour events that he plays and hopefully post some good finishes.
I am perfectly happy with Monty playing in the senior majors and maybe a few other senior events. But I hope that his main priority will remain playing on the European Tour. While his results as a whole have not jumped off the page in the past three or four years, he's still posted top-10s in each of the past two seasons (2011 BMW PGA Championship and 2012 Johnnie Walker Championship). Maybe if a few putts drop or a couple of breaks go his way in those tournaments, then he ends up winning one of those events. I'm confident that he can still compete with the "young guys" on the right courses (preferably sub-7,100 yards).
Lastly, it's been much too long since he teed it up in an event, so I'm really looking forward to seeing him make his return to the Tour at Wentworth, where he's had so many great memories, including winning the Tour's flagship events in back-to-back-to-back years (1998, 1999, 2000). Luke Donald will be looking to repeat Monty's feat this year after winning the event in 2011 and 2012. All in all, it's going to be a golf-filled summer for Monty and let's hope that he's able to post some good results and possibly qualify for the U.S. Open or Open Championship.
Potential schedule for the remainder of 2013:
May 23-26: BMW PGA Championship (European Tour)
May 27: U.S. Open Qualifying (36 holes)
May 30-June 2: Nordea Masters (European Tour)
June 13-16: U.S. Open (if he qualifies)
June 20-23: BMW International Open (European Tour)
June 27-30: Senior Players Championship (Champions Tour)
July 11-14: Senior U.S. Open (Champions Tour/European Senior Tour)
July 25-28: The Senior Open Championship (Champions Tour/European Senior Tour)
August 16-18: SSE Scottish Senior Open (European Senior Tour)
August 22-25: Johnnie Walker Championship (European Tour)
August 29-September 1: ISPS Handa Wales Open (European Tour)
September 5-8: Omega European Masters (European Tour)
September 12-15: KLM Open (European Tour)
September 26-29: Alfred Dunhill Links Championship (European Tour)
October 10-13: Portugal Masters (European Tour)
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