World No 45

If Ernie Els is the king of Wentworth thanks to his six World Match Play victories, Colin Montgomerie cannot be far behind. The Scot has won the World Match Play title only once, in 1999, but he lifted the PGA Championship on the West Course three years in succession from 1998 and there are few players more at home there.

One of the cleanest ball-strikers of his generation - or any other - the Scot has been Europe’s dominant player for the best part of 15 years. His easy swing has barely changed over the years and his fine driving and cool nerve under pressure - in contrast to his well-documented temper - have helped him to win 31 European Tour titles, the most by a Briton. In the 1990s, he was virtually untouchable, winning seven consecutive Order of Merit titles before going on to make it a record eighth in 2005 at the grand age of 42.

His ability has never been in question. It is hard to think of many other players who could put their clubs away for a few months and then be in contention in their first tournament back. The one blot on his copybook is his failure to get that holy grail of the golf world, a major title.

Five times he has finished as runner-up, once at the Open, three times at the US Open and once at the US PGA Championship. Usually there has been someone slightly better on the day, but at Winged Foot, New York, in last year’s US Open, the occasion got to him as he misclubbed and double-bogeyed the final hole when a par would have given him victory. That hurt.

His Ryder Cup record, on the other hand, is impeccable. The way he led from the front as Europe crushed the United States in 2004 was mightily impressive and he is unbeaten in eight singles matches, a record of which he is rightly proud.

His relative lack of success at the World Match Play is hard to explain and, at 44, his best golf is perhaps behind him. But, like most people, he plays his best when he is happy away from the course, so the fact that he is to remarry in the new year bodes well for his chances of lifting the trophy. He has another incentive to do well: a win would help him towards his goal of qualifying automatically for his ninth Ryder Cup next year.

Factfile

Age: 44 Nationality: Scottish Wins: 40 Major wins: 0 Major record in 2007: Masters: missed cut; US Open: missed cut; Open: missed cut; US PGA: tied-42nd How he qualified for World Match Play: Fourth on European Tournaments ranking Previous WMP experience: 13 times