Montgomerie finds the antidote to Brookline

Colin Montgomerie had venom injected into his system by the hordes at Brookline. Yesterday, in the quiet of the Surrey countryside, he found the antidote: Europe's seemingly eternal at number one eventually outplayed American Mark O'Meara, the defending champion, to capture the Cisco World Matchplay Championship, a trophy which had eluded him in seven previous attempts.

A gentle breeze, enough to make players think twice about club selection, and more untypical October sunshine provided the perfect stage for Montgomerie (who was downing painkillers for a nagging tooth infection) to confirm his status as king of this particular domain. And he did so in some style.

Already a winner of two Volvo PGA championships on the west course, he added the matchplay crown - and a winner's cheque for Stg£170,000 - after a 3 and 2 final win over O'Meara, himself hampered by a back strain that had started out as a shoulder-cum-neck nuisance injury.

It wasn't an epic final, but it would have been hard for anyone, even someone of Montgomerie's undoubted abilities, to maintain the sort of form he had displayed up to the final afternoon.

By yesterday lunchtime, when Montgomerie strolled on to the first tee-box for the sixth and final time of the event, his personal scoring was a remarkable 27-under-par (for 83 holes). He was a more modest two-under for the remaining 16 holes he required to close out O'Meara, but, in all that time, he never really looked in danger of slipping up. The victory enabled him to equal the European Tour record of six tournament wins in a season.

The hard work was completed in the morning session, after which Montgomerie - around in 66 strokes - had established a three-hole lead. It could have been even greater given that he was five-up after 16 holes.

"I was just trying to hang in there," admitted O'Meara, who contrived to reduce the deficit by finishing birdie-eagle.

When O'Meara and Montgomerie sat down together for lunch in the elegant clubhouse, the American told the Scot about the huge amount of respect he has from players on the other side of the Atlantic.

"He's a great player, someone who can play all the shots. Great driver. Terrific iron player. He's a tremendous competitor," remarked O'Meara later.

Although O'Meara had wondered on Thursday afternoon if his bad back would permit him to play at all, intensive physiotherapy - "I actually heard my back pop at one stage," he said of the manipulation carried out on the second and third thoracic vertebrae - ensured he was fit enough to make a stern defence of his crown.

But Montgomerie had well and truly gained the upper hand heading into the final round. "I knew I had to come out smoking, and I didn't do that," said O'Meara.

In fact, O'Meara did reduce the gap to two holes when he rolled in a 15-footer for birdie at the second. But, in a tense encounter, with only one of the next six holes halved, Monty was the player who remained in control.

There were only two occasions that Montgomerie was remotely worried, and both times he responded magnificently. On the 12th green, O'Meara - two down at the time - holed a 36-footer for birdie, but the Scot followed him in from 27 feet to share the hole. Then, on the 13th, when faced with a 172-yard approach shot, Montgomerie opted to use a five-iron.

"At the top of my swing I just thought I had too much club, and collapsed into it," he recalled. The result was a duffed shot. "I can't remember the last time that happened to me," he said. But he made a superb up and down to half the hole.

The critical moment in cementing his win came at the 15th, where he hit a three-iron approach shot of 218 yards into a wind that was becoming colder by the minute and causing distress to his toothache. The shot finished 12 feet below the hole, and he rammed in the putt to restore his three-hole advantage.

"This win means a lot to me. The word `world' in the title means an awful lot, and to get my name on this illustrious trophy makes it a special win," he said. Montgomerie, who lost his only previous matchplay final appearance (to Ernie Els in 1994), said the win under pressure could only help him in his quest to eventually win a major championship.

"There was a lot of pressure out there," he conceded. "No one has ever perfected this game, and nobody ever will . . . so, if you learn from winning under pressure, it can only help."

Europe's most consistent player is still learning. What message does that send to the rest?