Colin Montgomerie has admitted he is unhappy with the strength of the DP World Tour as top European talent continues to move to the United States for better competition and prize money.
Colin Montgomerie criticized the DP’s World Tour decision to let some of Europe’s best players defect to other competitions, explaining that the decision left him “quite depressed”.
The 61-year-old Glaswegian has 31 European Tour victories to his name, including three consecutive Volvo PGA Championships in 1998, 1999 and 2000. And in his prime, he was constantly competing against the likes of Sergio Garcia, Nick Faldo, Ian Poulter, Padraig Harrington and a multitude of other well-known names.
Today, the Tour has seen some of its top players migrate to competitions in the United States and LIV Golf Leagueleaving the European circuit with little talent compared to the rest of the world. And despite an agreement in 2020 between the DP World Tour and PGA Tour which has resulted in a wealth of sponsorship and investment, Monty is not keen on the Race to Dubai route which allows the competition’s top ten players to enjoy a season with the team. PGA.
Talk with Golf magicMontgomerie said: “Yes, I’m getting quite depressed now, as I speak on behalf of my old tour, the European tour. Yes, it’s weakened, there’s no denying that. You can paint it as much as you like. You can paint it rosy, all you want to do, but go (in) any company (if) you give your top 10?
“The top 10 in your industry is going to be weaker every year, right? So (it’s) great for the PGA Tour; I can’t believe they accepted it, to be honest, because they’re taking spots away from the PGA Tour. The Americans, but it’s good for them to have them. Unfortunately, Europe, Europe has suffered, and the European Tour will suffer.”
Monty went on to explain that he had competed against some top talent in his day, but the sport had weakened since then, adding: “I was competing against Faldo, Langer, Seve, Olazabal, Woosnam, Lyle, you know, those guys; now you’ve got one in the top 50 if you’re lucky to get into the tournament, and one in the top 75 normally. It’s not the same anymore, and the sport has weakened.”
Due to its monetary prices, LIV Golf has managed to attract some of the best golfers from across Europe, including Garcia, Poulter, Jon Rahm and Lee Westwood – who play alongside Bryson DeChambeau, Dustin Johnson And Brooks Koepka. Meanwhile, the PGA Tour is seeing top European talent emerge like Tommy Fleetwood And Rory McIlroy confront Xander Schauffele, Scottie Scheffler and Tony Finau – leaving the struggling DP Tour to compete.
Explaining how the DP World Tour could help bring back big-name players, Montgomerie said Britain should use its top-class courses, citing the fact that “the course is a big advertisement” to attract players. He added: “What we have in Britain, we should be showcasing more.
“We’re lucky that the Senior Open is at Carnoustie which is great for us. The ladies are at St Andrews which is great for them this year. You know we’ve got Trump Aberdeen which is a great facility. We need more of that. We need more courses. The courses are really going to set the playing field.”
