Colin Montgomerie became the first player from Scotland to win on the Champions Tour and the third overall in the 75-year history of the Senior PGA Championship (Jock Hutchinson/1937, 1947; Fred McLeod/1938).
Montgomerie ended an official victory drought of 138 career starts on the PGA TOUR and 17 appearances on the Champions Tour. On the regular Tour, Montgomerie’s best finished in Major Championships were: T2 at the 1994 US. Open (play-off), 2nd at the 1995 US PGA Championship, 2nd at the 1997 US Open, 2nd at the 2005 Open Championship and T2 at the 2006 US Open.
His previous victories on US soil were the unofficial Anderson Consulting Match Play Championship in Scottsdale, Arizona in 1998 as well as the 2000 Skins Game in Palm Springs.
It was his first win since claiming the 2013 Travis Perkins Senior Masters on the European Senior Tour.
He also became the third straight international winner of the Senior PGA Championship, a first in the history of the championship, and the 25th player overall to win this event on his first appearance. He followed England’s Roger Chapman, the winner at Harbor Shores in 2012, and Japan’s Khoki Idoki, the winner at Bellerive last year.
Since the start of the Champions Tour in 1980, the previous debutants to win the title include, Arnold Palmer (1980), Miller Barber (1981), Gary Player (1986), Tom Wargo (1993), Hale Irwin (1996), Allen Doyle (1999), Doug Tewell (2000), Fuzzy Zoeller (2002), Mike Reid (2005), Denis Watson (2007), Michael Allen (2009) and Khoki Idoki (2013).
Montgomerie became the third first-time winner on the Champions Tour this year, joining Jeff Maggert (Insperity Invitational) and Miguel Angel-Jimenez (Greater Gwinnett Championship), as well as the eighth different winner overall on the circuit.
He also became the third different member of the World Golf Hall of Fame to win on the Champions Tour this year (Bernhard Langer-Mitsubishi Electric Championshp at Hualalai, Insperity Invitational), Fred Couples (Toshiba Classic).
His victory came in in his fifth appearance in a senior major since starting his Champions Tour career last summer. His previous record in Senior Majors are 2013 Constellation SENIOR PLAYERS/T9, 2013 U.S. Senior Open/T30, 2013 Senior Open Championship/T21, 2014 Regions Tradition/T16.
Before today, his previous-best finish was a T2 earlier this year at the Toshiba Classic.
Montgomerie earns a five-year exemption into the season-opening Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai.
He also earns a check for $378,000 as well as 756 points in the season-long Charles Schwab Cup race based on double points at all five Champions Tour major championships. Montgomerie now moves into second place in the season-long Schwab Cup race with 1,227 points. Bernhard Langer still leads the season-long race after nine events with 1,511 points.
With the win, Montgomerie earns a spot in the 2014 PGA Championship at Valhalla in Louisville, Kentucky.
His winning score of 13-under 271 was the same 72-hole total as Roger Chapman had when he won at Harbor Shores in 2012. Montgomerie’s four-stroke victory today is the largest margin of victory since Doug Tewell won the rain-shortened Senior PGA Championship in 2000.
Tom Watson’s runner-up finish at this year’s Senior PGA Championship was his best effort in a Champions Tour event since he won the 2011 Senior PGA Championship at Valhalla. It was also the 17th time he’s finished among the top-three in a senior major in his Champions Tour career.
Bernhard Langer’s T3 extended his streak of top-ten finishes to 19 straight Champions Tour events and 20 consecutive overall after a tied eight at the Masters. He’s now also finished among the top three in seven of his nine appearances on the 2014 Champions Tour. Langer, along with David Frost (T5) are the only two players to record top-five finishes in each of the Senior PGA Championships that have been played at Harbor Shores. Langer and Frost were both T4 here in 2012.
