Montgomerie Seeks His First Major Title

He nearly won the 1992 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach. He nearly won the 1994 U.S. Open at Oakmont. He nearly won the 1995 PGA at Riviera.

He’s Colin Montgomerie and it seems as though he’s nearly ready to win his first major title. That could happen this week on the northwest coast of England at dreary old Royal Lytham and St. Anne’s Golf Club, where the 33-year-old Scot arrives for the British Open with the best resume of anyone.

After Steve Elkington’s birdie putt on the first playoff hole beat him in the PGA Championship at Riviera, Montgomerie pulled himself together and won his third consecutive money title on the European Tour.

He might not have putted well at Oakland Hills, where he tied for 10th, but he started using an old putter again and then finished second at both the English Open and the Deutsche Bank Open before coming from behind to win the Irish Open.

It’s worth noting that Montgomerie led the field at the U.S. Open in greens in regulations and fairways hit when you consider that Lytham normally behaves benignly to accurate golfers.

The other contenders? Round up the usual suspects--Greg Norman, Nick Faldo, Elkington, Ernie Els, Michael Campbell and Corey Pavin.

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Mean feet: The news that Jose Maria Olazabal would miss the British Open because of rheumatoid arthritis in both feet may further jeopardize the career of the 30-year-old Spaniard.

Olazabal, the 1994 Masters champion, would have been making his first tournament appearance in 10 months, but instead had to withdraw from his third major in six weeks.

Olazabal’s arthritis was discovered in 1994 and he had an operation in January 1995, but still had problems. He couldn’t play Ryder Cup last fall.

Since then, Olazabal has been to the Mayo Clinic and has tried chemotherapy. Blood samples sent to a British laboratory led to a special diet, said Sergio Gomez, who is Olazabal’s manager.

Olazabal must avoid coffee, corn, yeast and onions, said Gomez.

“He accepts he is probably going to have to play in some pain for the rest of his life, but he does not want to make his comeback when the pain is at a level which affects his concentration,” Gomez said.

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Not-so-terrific Tom: Defending champion Tom Weiskopf finished 18 shots behind Dave Stockton in the U.S. Senior Open, but that’s not what many will remember.

Instead, it’s probably going to be Weiskopf’s tirade against Jim Stahl, his playing partner the first two rounds.

Weiskopf criticized Stahl, the U.S. Senior Amateur champion, for not being competitive, for marking his ball with a quarter, causing a distraction when the sun reflected off it, and for mistakenly teeing off ahead of Weiskopf on one hole.

Weiskopf didn’t want to discuss the issue further.

“It’s a dead horse that doesn’t need to be beaten to death,” he said. “It’ll all be forgotten very quickly. All of this.”

Weiskopf also complained that the USGA shouldn’t have paired the U.S. Senior champ with the senior amateur champ, which is a USGA tradition.

Said Stahl, who shot 80-80: “You just can’t imagine how truly devastated I am right now.”

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Make that “Gold Cup”: The Ron Shelton golf movie “Tin Cup,” starring Kevin Costner, is not even out yet but already is a big hit with the pros who had parts.

Since production started last year, they have had a stirring amount of success on the PGA Tour.

Billy Mayfair won the Tour Championship and $540,000, his richest payday. John Cook ended a four-year winless streak with a victory at Memphis. D.A. Weibring, who sat out three months because of pneumonia and Bell’s Palsy, won at Hartford.

Craig Stadler ended a two-year drought by winning at Riviera. Elkington won his first major, the PGA, also at Riviera. Pavin won in the Colonial, Fred Couples won the Players and Phil Mickelson won twice.

It was all enough to make Shelton wonder.

“The point is, could it be that ‘Tin Cup’ has been a good luck charm?” he said.

Maybe, but if Shelton ever makes another golf movie, he may have to limit the entries.

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Golf Notes

California Amateur champion Mark Johnson, 41, a beer truck driver from Helendale, will try to become the first in 54 years to win the state title and the Southern California Golf Assn. Amateur title in the same year when the SCGA event begins Friday at Santa Maria Country Club. Johnny Dawson was the last to win both in the same year, in 1942. . . . Eric Dickerson, Lance Alworth, Willie Gault, Deacon Jones, Jim Plunkett and Oscar De La Hoya are some of the celebrities playing in the Tom Flores Invitational golf tournament Monday at Riviera. Details: (213) 413-4400, ext. 227.

The 10th Byron Scott-Toshiba Challenge for Children Celebrity golf classic will be played Sept. 8 at Marbella Golf & Country Club in San Juan Capistrano. The event benefits Florence Crittendon Services of Orange County, Laura’s Walk-In Center and Shelter, McKinney Jenkins Foundation Infant Development program, Capistrano United School District Foundation, Padrino’s Children’s Hospital of Orange County and the Times Children’s Fund. Among those scheduled to play are James Worthy, Jerry West, David Leisure, David Robinson, Chris Mullin, Rik Smits, Bill Walton, Bruce Jenner, Julius Erving, Alan Thicke, Bobby Grich, Jerry Mathers, Peter Marshall, Nick Van Exel, Vlade Divac and Sam Perkins. Details: (714) 557-5100. . . . The Billy Barty Foundation Celebrity golf classic will be played Sept. 20-22 at Palm Springs Country Club. Details: (818) 891-4022.