Colin Montgomerie’s outstanding 2014 season was celebrated on Thursday night when the annual European Senior Tour Awards Dinner took place at Woburn Abbey before the start of his defence of the Travis Perkins Masters over the Duke’s Course today.
The 52 year old Scot collected two of the evening’s principal awards when he received the John Jacobs Trophy from European Tour Chief Executive, Keith Pelley, before picking up the Rolex Player of the Year Award from Senior Tour Managing Director, Andy Stubbs.
Montgomerie was joined on the podium by Cesar Monasterio of Argentina, who won the 2014 Rookie of the Year Award and England’s Carl Mason who, for the second year running, received the Lawrence Batley Trophy as the highest placed golfer on the Order of Merit aged 60 or over.
The Awards Dinner took place in the magnificent Sculpture Gallery at Woburn Abbey by kind permission of His Grace The Duke of Bedford, with players, sponsors and guests celebrating the success of the 2014 season.
Keith Pelley paid tribute to the “iconic” Order of Merit winner, who headed the money list by a substantial margin in 2014, collecting four titles on both sides of the Atlantic and accumulating €624,543 in the process. He said: “John Jacobs has been an incredibly influential figure in the history of The European Tour and it is a pleasure to present the award bearing his name to one of our most decorated golfers.”
Montgomerie, who has claimed three Senior Major titles since turning 50 in June 2013, said: “I am honoured to receive this award. I was fortunate enough to win eight Order of Merit titles on the main Tour and I will look upon this one every bit as fondly as the others in my cabinet. The standard on the Senior Tour is very high and this means a lot to me.”
Monasterio won the English Senior Open last year on his way to finishing fifth on the Order of Merit with earnings of €173,249, in the process becoming only the fifth player to win titles on the Challenge Tour, European Tour and Senior Tour. After receiving his trophy from Andy Stubbs, Monasterio dedicated the award to his late father, who passed away three months ago.
Mason, the most successful player in the history of the Senior Tour with 25 titles, accepted the Lawrence Batley Award from Batley’s daughter Rita Firth as leading player on the 2014 Senior Tour Order of Merit over the age of 60 for the second successive year, after finishing in 19th position.
Mason said: “Isn’t this a wonderful game that I am able to win awards into my sixties? Sometimes I wonder where the time went, but this is a great honour.”
