• PGA Tour

Tiger still nowhere near his best - Montgomerie

ESPN staff
April 13, 2011
Colin Montgomerie: 'Tiger Woods will win again. There's no doubt about that' © Getty Images
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Tiger Woods' failure to seize his chance of winning The Masters shows he is still a shadow of his former self, according to Colin Montgomerie.

The world No. 5 looked on course for a first title since November 2009 when he eagled the eighth on Sunday at Augusta, but he stuttered on the back nine, coming home in a level-par 36.

Woods ended up finishing four shots behind eventual winner Charl Schwartzel, whose ruthless work on the greens was reminiscent of Woods in his pomp - and Montgomerie believes the American will continue to struggle until he improves on the greens.

"I think if he was back to his best, he would have won," Montgomerie told Sky Sports. "He had six three putts and lost by four shots, so there you go. His second shot at eight, that was remarkable, and then to follow it with a putt - I thought then that it was his title to lose.

"It was amazing he didn't continue on the back nine. His putting is just not as good as it was. When he gets that putting back to Tiger Woods-like, he will win again. There is no question."

Meanwhile, Montgomerie says he would be shocked if Rory McIlroy responds positively this week to his Masters meltdown. A few days after the Ulsterman blew a four-shot final-day lead at The Masters, he will tee it up at the Maybank Malaysian Open, which kicks off on Thursday.

"It will play on his mind, there's no question. If he performs at all well at the Malaysian Open I'll be surprised, it'll take a month to get out of the system - and that's what we have before the US Open in Washington DC," Montgomerie said. "We'll hope he gets into some sort of mental state where he can compete and try and win the US Open."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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