Monty's win crowns a weekend of sporting comebacks

There is always a healthy respect for those sportsmen and sportswomen who through loss of fitness or form have stopped being competitive, and then fight back to win again. We saw it at Silverstone where Kimi Raikkonen showed that his win at Magny Cours the previous week was no fluke and that he and Ferrari are emphatically back. We saw it at Wimbledon where Venus Williams fought back from injury to take her fourth title. We saw it at Trent Bridge where a resurgent West Indies recovered from the slough of their Test series debacle to beat England emphatically in the One Day series. And, above all, we saw it at the K Club in Ireland where Colin Montgomerie recorded his first Tour win since December 2005.

Monty doesn't give up

You sometimes feel with Colin Montgomerie that his almost obsessive determination to succeed can be a hindrance not a help. His track record over the twenty years he has been in the limelight (he was Scottish Amateur champion at the age of 23 in 1987) has been the best on the European tour - the European Open was his 31st tour win, a record. You don't get that sort of record without a strong dollop of confidence. And yet, despite this success, the golfing world will see Monty as an underachiever, given his sublime golfing talent. It is not only that he has failed to win a Major but that he has failed to win any event on the PGA tour - a curious fact that rather defies explanation. Like every golfer at any level Monty sometimes looks forlorn when things are not going right, but he rarely, if ever, gives up. A couple of weeks ago he pulled out of the BMW International through illness but the following week he finished third in the French Open and now he has won again in Ireland.

The K Club has happy memories

It was at the K Club last year that Monty had one of his greatest triumphs when he was unbeaten in the Ryder Cup - a performance which helped inspire the European team to success. There was nothing introspective, selfish or feeble about Monty over those three days - he was rock solid and determined. Like most sportsmen Monty responds to encouragement but unlike some of the greats he finds it difficult to shut out the noise when the galleries are not with him. For a while the spectators who followed the PGA tour tried to unsettle Monty and they succeeded - if he had found some way of blocking out the abuse he would surely have won a Major or two. But in Europe it's different and in Ireland last weekend he would have sensed that he was amongst admirers who wanted him to win - and he delivered.

The great sportsmen don't often get rattled

The coolest sportsman I have ever seen was Michael Schumacher. He suffered a fair amount of abuse in his time, some of it warranted, but I never saw it get to him at all. Some commentators have written about his "ice-cold green eyes" and have criticised him for being so obsessive to win. But look in the eyes of Ricky Ponting or Sachin Tendulkar or Roger Federer and you will see the same. Somehow they do manage mostly to keep intrusions at bay and focus on the job in hand. At Wimbledon last weekend Roger Federer became frustrated with the "Hawk-Eye" electronic line call system. In the second set in a crucial game he was 15-40 down after losing two calls on crucial points - his response was to serve three aces in a row. That's the sign of a true champion.

Can Monty win at Carnoustie?

The "Open Championship" begins at Carnoustie in ten days time - can Colin Montgomerie build on his current form and capitalise on the fact that almost everyone in the crowd in his Scottish homeland will be willing him on? The last time the Open was at this fearsome course in 1999 Monty was only six strokes off the lead in fifteenth place. If he does somehow manage to conjure a win this year it would be the most popular Major win for years. Now that really would be a comeback!