Football
Jason Sobel, ESPN Senior Writer 18y

Monty should find irony in money title

Laid back
With my mind on my money
And my money on my mind

According to at least one Web site, there are more than 10,000 songs that declare some mention of money throughout. But perhaps no artist more aptly described the end-of-season feelings of professional golfers more than the immortal Snoop Dogg in the above verse.

OK, so maybe guys like Carl Pettersson (who won the Chrysler Championship), Chad Campbell (who earned his way into the Tour Championship) and Tag Ridings (who locked up his PGA Tour card for next season) aren't sippin' on gin and juice right now, but you can bet more than a few victory cigars wafted throughout the locker rooms of different tours on Sunday.

One man who is certainly whistling a happy tune is Colin Montgomerie. But as the Weekly 18 reports, the Scotsman had his mind on more than just money this weekend. He wanted to win a tournament, too.

1.
The full Monty

There was a bittersweet irony surrounding Montgomerie's eighth -- and unlikeliest -- Order of Merit title. As third-round co-leader at the Volvo Masters in Spain, Monty could have claimed a victory on the same day he clinched the money title -- a beautiful combination for a man whose career has been marred by some ugly moments.

Instead, he shot a final-round 74 to lose by three strokes to Paul McGinley. Moments after failing to claim one trophy, Monty held another aloft, but it was hardly the daily-double he was seeking.

Such is the paradoxical nature of Montgomerie's professional career. Perhaps no golfer has ever won so much and yet so little.

After all, if a golfer's greatness is measured by his success in majors, how does Monty rate? He owns a goose-egg in the big ones, having lost to Ernie Els in a playoff at the 1994 U.S. Open, to Steve Elkington in a playoff in the '95 PGA Championship and to Els by one stroke two years later in the Open once again. The opportunities presented themselves, but each time -- for one reason or another -- Monty failed on the grand stage.

And yet, through it all he remained a grand champion on the European Tour. He earned every single Order of Merit title from 1993-99 before claiming No. 8 six years later. He'll undoubtedly add to his resume as one of the best Ryder Cup players ever next year at The K Club and will surely captain the European squad sometime in the not-so-distant future.

So take a moment to appreciate Montgomerie's most recent accomplishment, the one he calls "very, very special" and "the toughest" of his eight titles, because it didn't come easy. And it didn't come without its share of irony, either.

2.
Let him play

The Weekly 18 would be remiss if we didn't mention Jean Van de Velde and his quest to qualify for the Women's British Open for some inane reason. Our colleague Mark Kreidler referred to the Frenchman as a "goof" on Thursday, but we prefer the term "misguided soul." Exactly what is he trying to prove by making such a suggestion? What would he like to accomplish? Our advice to the 43rd-ranked player on the Euro Tour's Order of Merit (thanks to a second-place finish at the French Open earlier this year) is to step down from the soapbox and pretend this incident never happened. Our advice to the officials of the Women's British Open, however, would be much more fun if heeded. We say find a way to grant a special exemption to Van de Velde ... then see what he has to say for himself when he fails to produce a top-20 finish. The media circus would be as big as if Michelle Wie ever clinched a spot in The Masters and would probably squelch any talk about men playing on a women's tour ever again.

3.
Euro right

When Michael Campbell won the U.S. Open, he earned a five-year exemption on the PGA Tour. With larger purses and greater rewards than its European counterpart, the lure of the U.S.-based tour would prove too much for most players to resist, but Campbell eschewed a new life in favor of remaining a Euro Tour regular. This weekend, he was rewarded for his loyalty, as the tour awarded him Honorary Life Membership. Campbell is the 29th player in the tour's storied history to receive this accolade.

4.
Mm-mm good

Since we're on the subject of Campbells ... we've got three words for Chad Campbell: It's about time. With a final-round 67, Campbell earned solo second-place honors in Tampa to claim a berth in next week's Tour Championship. Entering the Chrysler, the stoic Texan had made 20 cuts in 25 starts this season, including four top-10 finishes, but that's simply not enough for a player of his caliber. Campbell lost to Adam Scott in a one-hole playoff at the rain-shortened Nissan Open back in February, but failed to contend for another title until Sunday. Perhaps we're being too hard on the guy, but after prestigious wins at the Tour Championship and Bay Hill in the past two seasons, we expected the 31-year-old to be a lock on U.S. Ryder/Presidents Cup teams for years to come. Instead, he failed to make Jack Nicklaus' squad this year and barring a victory at East Lake, he won't see Kapalua for the first time since 2003.

5.
Bumpy Ridings

If you like life nice and stress-free, don't hang out with Tag Ridings. Last year, the 31-year-old Oklahoma native finished exactly 125th on the PGA Tour money list, besting Paul Azinger by a mere $21,824 to retain his tour card for this season. Through 29 events though, Ridings was right back where he started from, at 126th on the money list entering the Chrysler. But Ridings ensured he'd be back in '06 with a T-3 finish in Tampa, his best result since a T-2 in Las Vegas over a year ago. "It will be nice playing golf without any heat on me," he said.

6.
Buddy system

Vijay Singh and Tom Pernice are good friends on tour, but for a few weeks, at least, it's looked as if they've swapped swings. Playing with Singh during the first two rounds at Disney, Pernice watched his buddy miss the cut as he earned a solo second-place finish, his best result since winning the 2001 International. There was more of the same this week in Tampa. Once again, Singh failed to reach the weekend, but Pernice picked up the slack for the duo, earning a T-3 finish to continue climbing on the money list.

7.
The magic number

When it comes to the end of the PGA Tour season, players don't like missing out on any potential earnings that could help them keep their card or vault into next year's Masters or next week's Tour Championship. And yet, plenty of guys did some sharing on Sunday. Following Pettersson and Campbell on the Chrysler leaderboard was a seven-man logjam for third place, meaning each of those players had to share the money that originally would have been slotted for places three through nine. Hidemichi Tanaka, Stewart Cink, Ridings, Tim Herron, Pernice, Bo Van Pelt and Steve Lowery will each go to bed Sunday night knowing that one more made putt over four rounds would have led to a much larger paycheck.

8.
Wrong said Fred

While many players battled to reach the top 30 on the money list entering the Tour Championship, others didn't seem quite as motivated. Take Fred Couples, for example. After missing the cut at Disney last week, Couples was spotted at the World Series in Chicago later in the weekend. This week, the 34th-ranked player on the money list failed to show in Tampa, ensuring he'd miss the season-ending event for the seventh straight year. It's tough to criticize one of the tour's good guys and fan favorites, but if Freddie needed a rest, perhaps it should come during Silly Season instead.

9.
Making up the rules?

We love the Nationwide Tour. The PGA Tour's minor league has been referred to by some as the second-best tour in the world; sure, it's a stance the Weekly 18 doesn't necessarily agree with, let alone numerous members of the European Tour, but it says a lot about its apparent talent. But we've got to take the Nationwide Tour to task for a few recent in-season adjustments. When Jason Gore won his third event and gained an instant promotion to the PGA Tour, it was announced that the Nationwide Tour would promote its top 21 players on the money list, rather than the usual 20. And when last week's Miccosukee Championship was canceled, it seemed that 61st-ranked Brian Henninger would be on the outside looking in when it came to qualifying for the Nationwide Tour Championship, but another change was announced to allow for one more player. If it seems like Nationwide officials are making up the rules as they go along, well, they are. Sure, having one of its players earn an in-season promotion may throw the tour for a loop, but its hardly unprecedented. These rules should already be in place, so that players aren't in the dark as to where they need to finish.

10.
Big Bubba

Thanks to $2,680, the PGA Tour will be a much more colorful place -- both literally and figuratively -- next season. Bubba Watson, a powerful lefty who led the Nationwide Tour in driving distance at a whopping 334.0-yard average this season -- using a pink shaft in his driver, no less -- played the final three holes of that tour's final event in 3 under to pass one-time Kemper Open winner Tom Scherrer into the top-21 on the money list and earn his way into the big leagues by way of the Jason Gore Rule. Think he's going to be fun to watch? Watson's driving distance average topped PGA Tour leader Scott Hend by almost 15 yards this season.

11.
Paying the Bill

Sunday was a bad day to be a Haas. While dad Jay lost a third-round six-shot lead at the Champions Tour's Charles Schwab Cup Championship to lose by one to Tom Watson, failing to claim his third victory in his last four starts, it was hardly the family's most disappointing finish of the weekend. Jay's son Bill missed clinching his PGA Tour card by two spots on the Nationwide money list ($7,059 total), meaning he'll head back to Q School in a second straight attempt to gain status through those means. Last year, Bill failed to make the tour by two strokes. Of course, if that again doesn't work he'll likely be able to fall back on the family name. Earlier this season, Haas used sponsor's exemptions to play in six PGA Tour events; don't be surprised to see him try the same means again next season, if Q School doesn't pan out.

12.
Money matters

Life on the Nationwide Tour might not be totally big-time, but it's not bad. After all, money leader Troy Matteson earned $495,009 this season, topping Zach Johnson's record total by $127. Sounds like a good living, huh? Consider this: If Matteson earned the same amount on the PGA Tour, he'd be fighting to keep conditional status. That total would put him at 143rd on the tour money list entering the final week of the season. For the record, last year's top Nationwide money-winners, Jimmy Walker and D.A. Points, would have finished 142nd and 144th, respectively, on last year's money list.

13.
No Sony surprise

Perhaps the Weekly 18 is just so tapped into everything going on in the world of golf that we weren't surprised to see Michelle Wie accept a sponsor's exemption for next year's Sony Open on the PGA Tour. Either that, or it was the huge Sony logos that littered the backdrop during her announcement that she was turning professional, plus the millions of dollars in endorsement money handed to her by the company that tipped us off. In all seriousness, the multi-million contract that Sony gave Wie could be looked at in two ways: It's a chance for the company to pay back Wie, who as an amateur brought international attention to the Sony-sponsored event in each of the last two seasons; and it's also a chance to insure that Wie will continue to play her hometown tournament. Unless her game goes south in a hurry or her professional priorities change, don't expect Wie to miss this event for quite a while.

14.
Media darling

It's not often a ladies' golfer grabs national mainstream media attention -- and even less if her name isn't Annika Sorenstam, Michelle Wie, Paula Creamer or Morgan Pressel -- but Cristie Kerr did the talk-show circuit this week to discuss how losing 60 pounds helped both her confidence and golf game. "I'm like, `Oh, my God, how did I do it?'" Kerr told Matt Lauer on The Today Show. "You know, because it's really a hard thing to do. And that's why I want to get the message across to people that they can really take control and shape their lives into what they want it to be." In a world where Sorenstam has dominated on the course and young guns have dominated the headlines, Kerr is an oft-forgotten player who deserves attention for her rise to the top. For this week, at least, she finally got some.

15.
Champions of the Champions Tour

As part of its 25th anniversary celebration, the Champions Tour has counted down the top-25 moments in its history. On Sunday, the tour announced the No. 1 moment -- a team tourney between four legends that received plenty of acclaim and helped launch the tour. Here's what the tour's press release had to say: "On the afternoon of April 30, 1979, there were fireworks galore at the Onion Creek Golf Club in Austin, TX, site of the second Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf. Birdies on the last two holes of regulation play by Roberto De Vicenzo and Julius Boros forced the tournament into sudden-death with Tommy Bolt and Art Wall. A national television audience on NBC marveled as the playoff produced one par and six birdies, with De Vicenzo and Bolt trading friendly barbs after each birdie. De Vicenzo and Bolt came away the champions, and a year later the Champions Tour was launched."

16.
All the world's a stage

Last year, nine players earned their way through all three stages of Q School to become full-fledged PGA Tour members for the 2005 season. With first stage qualifying at all 14 venues now complete, our best bets to duplicate that feat are young players Aron Price and Michael Putnam. This week, Price earned medalist honors by three strokes at SCGA Golf Course in Murrieta, Calif. Earlier this season the Australia native and recent Georgia Southern grad won his first career professional tournament on the Grey Goose Gateway Tour. Putnam is a former NCAA Championship runner-up from Pepperdine, who made noise as a sponsor's exemption in Hartford earlier this year. He was co-medalist (along with Doug Garwood) at San Juan Oaks GC.

17.
What's in a name?

If you were surprised to see the names of John Daly and John Cook at the Hollister, Calif., venue of the first stage of Q School, well, you should have been. That's because the players were actually John Dailey and John V. Cook -- no relation to either of their more famous namesakes. There will be no such confusion on tour next season, however; each player failed to reach the second stage.

18.
Quote of the week

"I'll be glad when this thing is over Sunday afternoon. It's just a massive, massive stress."
-- Colin Montgomerie after Friday's second round of the Volvo Masters.

Jason Sobel is ESPN.com's golf editor. He can be reached at Jason.Sobel@espn3.com

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