The story of the nine holes that changed Colin Montgomerie’s life

It was July 1986, and Colin Montgomerie had recently graduated from the Houston Baptist University. He’d learned to win playing collegiate golf in the States, but wasn’t thinking about a future in professional golf. In fact, Monty was ready to represent the best players in the world, not compete against them.

Then, the day after the Open Championship at Turnberry, the Scotsman played nine holes that changed his life.

“Ian Todd, who was the president of IMG, was playing the course on the Monday after the Open, and they asked me to join them for the back nine as a job interview,” Montgomerie said to Golf Magazine. “I was going to use my business management degree that I had got in America to manage the likes of Nick Price, Greg Norman, Seve Ballesteros, Ian Woosnam, Sandy Lyle, Nick Faldo, Bernhard Langer — all IMG clients. I thought it would be fantastic, so I played at Turnberry with two senior IMG executives.”

By the time the round was over, the job interview had morphed into something else.

“I shot 29 on the back nine,” Monty said. “Afterward, they said, ‘Well, Colin, that was impressive. You’re not going to work for us; we’re going to work for you!'”

Montgomerie would turn pro a year later, embarking on a career of 31 European Tour wins and a record seven consecutive money titles.

Ryan Ballengee is a Yahoo Sports contributor. Find him on Facebook and Twitter.

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