{"id":299272,"date":"2025-12-04T21:09:09","date_gmt":"2025-12-04T21:09:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/299272\/"},"modified":"2025-12-04T21:09:09","modified_gmt":"2025-12-04T21:09:09","slug":"who-is-the-best-european-golfer-of-all-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/299272\/","title":{"rendered":"Who is the best European golfer of all time?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\tNot many are better placed to determine the best European golfer of all time. So where does Colin Montomgerie place Rory McIlroy in his top three? And, just for fun, where does he rank himself? Alex Perry chatted to the legendary Scot\u2026<\/p>\n

Rory McIlroy doesn\u2019t have much left to achieve in the world of golf \u2013 but there are two particular targets on which he can now set his sights.<\/p>\n

The Northern Irishman recently sealed a fourth straight Race to Dubai title<\/a> \u2013 and seventh overall \u2013 to overtake Seve Ballesteros and move within one of Colin Montgomerie\u2019s record.<\/p>\n

It was a neat full stop on what McIlroy called the \u201chighest point\u201d of his career, in which he also became Europe\u2019s first grand slam champion<\/a> and third in the continent\u2019s all-time list of major champions.<\/p>\n

Of course, McIlroy isn\u2019t done there. \u201cI still don\u2019t feel like I\u2019m finished yet,\u201d he declared defiantly<\/a> ahead of the Australian Open. He is now two behind Harry Vardon \u2013 who won The Open six times around a sole US Open victory \u2013 and within one of Nick Faldo, whose trophy room boasts three Claret Jugs and three Green Jackets. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The next chance McIlroy has to catch the Englishman will be at the Masters<\/a> in April. But Faldo is one of just three players who have been able to successfully defend at Augusta, and has issued a warning<\/a> to his current generation rival about the emotionally toll it can have on a player.<\/p>\n

Regardless of what happens in the coming years, McIlroy has cemented himself as one of the finest to ever grace the fairways. After all, he is now part of our sport\u2019s most exclusive club<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\"Rory<\/p>\n

But the best European of all time? <\/p>\n

Montgomerie is as well placed as anyone to judge, so I put the question to the Scot in a call to promote the Skechers World Champions Cup<\/a>. His answer began in typical Monty fashion.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, goodness, my word,\u201d he stutters. \u201cI mean, if you\u2019re talking about the best players, you\u2019ve got to think about major championships, haven\u2019t you?<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s always a difficult task to rank Tiger Woods against Jack Nicklaus. In my view, Tiger was, and is, the best player that\u2019s ever played the game. Now he hasn\u2019t won as many majors as Jack, but the competition was very different when Tiger was playing.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll the world events that Tiger did, and all the records that Tiger holds, and with all respect to Jack, I would say that Tiger is the best player that\u2019s ever lived.\u201d<\/p>\n

So how can that be applied to the case for the best European golfer ever? Montgomerie, he assures, is going somewhere.<\/p>\n

\u201cFaldo has six majors, and Rory and Seve have five,\u201d he confirms. \u201cNow, does that mean Faldo is better than Rory? No. Does that mean Rory is better than Faldo? It\u2019s a very difficult thing to equate, because it\u2019s a different generation.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would say now that Rory has won on all four surfaces. you\u2019d have to put him ahead of Faldo and say that Rory is the best European player ever to play.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Bernhard<\/p>\n

But there\u2019s a sidebar to Montgomerie\u2019s argument. \u201cSeve, I think, is still number one in Ryder Cup terms, as the passion of the European team,\u201d he explains. \u201cRory is getting there, but Seve is still number one within the European team room.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I would put my head on the block here and say that Rory is the best European player ever now. He\u2019s achieved what no European player has achieved in the past, in winning the grand slam.\u201d<\/p>\n

And where does Montgomerie, who has the third most European Tour wins ever and \u2013 for now \u2013 more Order of Merit titles than anyone, rank himself?<\/p>\n

A huge smile broadens across his face.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, a close fourth,\u201d he says, laughing. \u201cI\u2019ll take fourth place!\u201d<\/p>\n

He jokes, but it\u2019s hard to argue against it.<\/p>\n

Monty\u2019s Race to Dubai pledge to Rors<\/p>\n

Montgomerie has pre-emptively accepted defeat in the bid to be the player with the most Order of Merit wins.<\/p>\n

Although, he says of McIlroy, \u201cif there was one to do that, I would rather it be him\u201d.<\/p>\n

Last month, ahead of wrapping up a seventh Race to Dubai \u2013 as the season-long standings are known these days \u2013 McIlroy said Montgomerie\u2019s achievement \u201cdoesn\u2019t get talked about enough\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s amazing to have that sustained excellence for that long,\u201d he added. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of people that can have a good year or a two-year run, but to sustain that for seven years straight, especially in that golden age of European golf where he\u2019s going up against Faldo and [Sandy] Lyle and [Bernard] Langer and [Ian] Woosnam.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not saying that this isn\u2019t a pretty good generation, too, but he had to fend off some really tough competition.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Colin<\/p>\n

While Montgomerie was keen to note that he is appreciative of McIlroy\u2019s praise, it\u2019s also sentiment with which he firmly agrees.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of his competition are playing in America, whereas we didn\u2019t really,\u201d he explains. \u201cFaldo, Seve, Langer, Lyle, Woosnam, myself, [Jose Maria] Olazabal, [Ronan] Rafferty, [Gordon] Brand Jr, [Sam] Torrance \u2013 these guys that I was competing against in the early days weren\u2019t members of the PGA Tour.\u201d<\/p>\n

While he slightly misremembers Faldo finishing in the top three, Montgomerie recalls his Scandinavian Masters win in 1991, where fifth-ranked Seve Ballesteros was runner-up and and World No.1 Ian Woosnam tied for third and notes that getting two or three of the top five at the top of the leaderboard \u201cdoesn\u2019t happen now in Europe\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a very astute thing to say,\u201d he continues of McIlroy\u2019s praise. \u201cI was very honored by what he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was my honor to captain him when he was a Ryder Cup rookie in 2010 and, from then on, I\u2019ve really followed his career very closely.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat a talent he has, and, I\u2019m sure, in the years to come he\u2019ll break my record.<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving won all the majors, and having won the Ryder Cup away, twice, there\u2019s one record left, which is that nine Orders of Merit. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf he keeps his health, he will attain that, and I\u2019ll make sure I\u2019m in Dubai and I\u2019ll be delighted to hand over that ninth trophy to him.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Colin<\/p>\n

As for making a record-equalling eighth Race to Dubai trophy next season, Montgomerie wouldn\u2019t bet against it \u2013 and disagrees with Faldo\u2019s take on defending the Green Jacket.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe way he focuses is on his game, and the way that he\u2019s playing the game right now, is extraordinary,\u201d he explains.<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving now won the Masters, and going back as defending champion, I think there will be a little bit of less pressure on him. I expect Rory to have a great season. He\u2019s swinging the club very well, and his putting has improved dramatically.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo you put the ball striking with [the] putting, and you have someone that can compete in every tournament he plays.\u201d<\/p>\n

More from Monty\u2026\t\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Not many are better placed to determine the best European golfer of all time. So where does Colin…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":299273,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[5904,101,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-299272","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-golf","8":"tag-golf","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/299272","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=299272"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/299272\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/299273"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=299272"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=299272"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=299272"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}