Riffa الرفاع
Riffa Fort
Riffa Location in Bahrain
Coordinates: 26°7′48″N 50°33′18″E / 26.13°N 50.555°E / 26.13; 50.555Coordinates: 26°7′48″N 50°33′18″E / 26.13°N 50.555°E / 26.13; 50.555
Country	Bahrain
Governorate	Southern Governorate
Settled	18th century
Population (2010)
• Total	121,566[1]
Time zone	UTC + 3

Riffa (in Arabic: الرفاع‎, transliteration: Ar Rifa`) is the second largest city in the Kingdom of Bahrain.^[2] Riffa is divided into two parts; East Riffa and West Riffa. The city is mainly located in the Central Governorate, while smaller parts are in the Southern Governorate. Most of the city's inhabitants are Sunni Muslims.

The city is growing fast and as of the 2001 census it had a population of 79,550 but the 2008 estimate is 111,000.^[3]

East Riffa[link]

East Riffa has many attractions, one such attraction is Riffa Fort, which is also known as Sheikh Salman Bin Ahmad Al Fateh Fort. The city has several shopping malls and two main shopping streets; Riffa Bazaar(in Arabic: سوق الرفاع‎, Souk Ar Rifa) and Bukuwara Street Market. The former is larger, while the latter is more organised and modernised. Playing golf in the Royal Golf Club is considered as one of the top activities to do in the area.^[4] A new development, created by Arcapita, called Riffa Views, is an upcoming large residential and commercial center.^[5] The project will open in stages for the public to live. The whole development will include artificial lakes, an international school,^[6] commercial districts, supermarkets, and will have access to the recently opened Royal Women's University. Lulu Hypermarket is new addition to the rapidly increasing commercial centres in East Riffa.

West Riffa[link]

West Riffa is predominately a residential area. Most of the ruling family, ministers and business investors live there. His Majesty King Hamad Bin Isa Al Khalifa of Bahrain lives there, as well as the Prime Minister, Sheikh Khalifa Bin Salman Al Khalifa. Riffa’s famous clock tower is located in the centre of West Riffa.

East Riffa is home to Bahrain National Stadium, where most football matches and important sports events in Bahrain take place. West Riffa and East Riffa, each has its own football club and stadium.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Satellite map at Maplandia.com

Sophia Loren
Sophia Loren in June 2009
Born	Sofia Villani Scicolone (1934-09-20) 20 September 1934 (age 77) Pozzuoli, Italy.
Residence	Geneva, Switzerland and Naples, Italy
Nationality	Italian
Other names	Sofia Lazzaro Sofia Scicolone
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1950–present
Spouse	Carlo Ponti (m. 1957-62, annulled; 1966-2007, his death)
Children	Carlo Ponti, Jr., Edoardo Ponti
Relatives	Alessandra Mussolini (niece)

Sophia Loren, OMRI (born Sofia Villani Scicolone; 20 September 1934) is an Italian actress.^[1]

In 1962, Loren, among 21 other awards, won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in Two Women, becoming the first actress to win an Academy Award for a non-English-speaking performance. Loren has won several international awards, including one Golden Globe Award, a Grammy Award, a BAFTA Award and a Laurel Award. Her other films include: Houseboat (1958), El Cid (1961), Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow (1963), Marriage Italian-Style (1964), and A Special Day (1977). She has received critical and commercial success in TV movies such as Courage (1986) and in American blockbusters such as Grumpier Old Men (1995), and Nine (2009). In 1994 she starred in Robert Altman's Ready to Wear, which earned her a Golden Globe nomination the same year. In 1995 she received the Cecil B. DeMille Award for lifetime achievements. In 2011 she dubbed one of the characters of Pixar blockbuster Cars 2 for non-English speaking markets.

In 1999, Loren was listed by the American Film Institute on AFI's 100 Years... 100 Stars as #21 of 25 American female screen legends of all time. In 2002, she was honored by the National Italian American Foundation (NIAF) at its annual Anniversary Gala and was inducted into its Italian American Hall of Fame. In 2009, the Guinness Book of World Records recognized her as "Italy's Most Awarded Actress".^[2] In 1991, she received an honorary Academy Award for lifetime achievements.

The same year, the Republic of France awarded her a Distinction of la Légion d'honneur (the Legion of Honor) with the grade of Chevalier (Knight). In 1994, she was awarded with the Honorary Golden Bear at the 44th Berlin International Film Festival.^[3] In 1997, Loren was invested Cavaliere di Gran Croce Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana (Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic). In 2010, she was awarded the Praemium Imperiale by the Imperial Family of Japan on behalf of the Japan Art Association.^[2]

Early life[link]

I'm not Italian, I am Neapolitan! It's another thing!

—Sophia Loren -interview with Barbara Walters ^[4]

Loren was born in the Clinica Regina Margherita in Pozzuoli Italy ^[5][6] daughter of Romilda Villani (1914–1991) and Riccardo Scicolone, a construction engineer.^[7] Scicolone refused to marry Villani, leaving her, a piano teacher and aspiring actress, without support.^[8] Loren's parents had another child together, her sister Anna Maria Villani Scicolone, in 1938. Loren has two younger paternal half-brothers, Giuliano and Giuseppe.^[9] Romilda, Loren, and Maria lived with Loren's grandmother in Pozzuoli, near Naples, to survive.^[10]

During World War II, the harbour and munitions plant in Pozzuoli was a frequent bombing target of the Allies. During one raid, as Loren ran to the shelter, she was struck by shrapnel and wounded in the chin. After that, the family moved to Naples, where they were taken in by distant relatives.^{[citation needed]}

After the war, Loren and her family returned to Pozzuoli. Grandmother Luisa opened a pub in their living room, selling homemade cherry liquor. Villani played the piano, Maria sang and Loren waited on tables and washed dishes. The place was very popular with the American GIs stationed nearby.

When she was 14 years old, Loren entered a beauty contest in Naples and, while not winning, was selected as one of the finalists. Later she enrolled in acting class and was selected as an extra in Mervyn LeRoy's 1951 film Quo Vadis, launching her career as a motion picture actress.

Career[link]

1950-1957(beginnings and Hollywood stardom)[link]

After being credited professionally as Sofia Lazzaro, she began using her current stage name in 1952's La Favorita. Her first starring role was in Aida (1953), for which she received critical acclaim.^[11] After playing the lead role in Two Nights with Cleopatra (1953), her breakthrough role was in The Gold of Naples (1954), directed by Vittorio De Sica.^[11] Too Bad She's Bad, also released in 1954, became the first of many films in which Loren co-starred with Marcello Mastroianni. Over the next three years she acted in many films such as Scandal in Sorrento (1955) and Lucky to Be a Woman (1956). In 1957, Loren's star had begun to rise in Hollywood, with the films Boy on a Dolphin (her U.S. film debut), Legend of the Lost with John Wayne, and The Pride and the Passion in which she starred opposite Cary Grant and Frank Sinatra.

International fame[link]

Sophia Loren star on Walk of Fame

Sophia Loren in It Started in Naples, where she sang Tu Vuò Fà L'Americano

Loren in the trailer for Five Miles to Midnight (1962)

Loren became an international film star following her five-picture contract with Paramount Pictures in 1958. Among her films at this time were Desire Under the Elms with Anthony Perkins, based upon the Eugene O'Neill play; Houseboat, a romantic comedy co-starring Cary Grant; and George Cukor's Heller in Pink Tights, in which she appeared as a blonde for the first time.

In 1961, she starred in Vittorio De Sica's Two Women, a stark, gritty story of a mother who is raped while trying to protect her daughter in war-torn Italy. Originally cast as the daughter, Loren fought against type and was re-cast as the mother (actress Eleonora Brown would portray the daughter). Loren's performance earned her many awards, including the Cannes Film Festival's best performance prize, and an Academy Award for Best Actress, the first major Academy Award for a non-English-language performance and to an Italian actress. She won 22 international awards for Two Women. The film proved to be extremely well accepted by the critics and it was a huge commercial success.

Loren is known for her sharp wit and insight. One of her most frequently quoted sayings is a quip about her famously voluptuous figure: "Everything you see, I owe to spaghetti." However, on the December 20, 2009, episode of CBS News Sunday Morning, Loren denied ever quoting the line.

During the 1960s, Loren was one of the most popular actresses in the world, and she continued to make films in both the U.S. and Europe, starring with prominent leading men. In 1964, her career reached its pinnacle when she received $1 million to appear in The Fall of the Roman Empire. In 1965, she received a second Academy Award nomination for her performance in Marriage Italian-Style.

Among Loren's best-known films of this period are Samuel Bronston's epic production of El Cid (1961) with Charlton Heston, The Millionairess (1960) with Peter Sellers, It Started in Naples (1960) with Clark Gable, Vittorio De Sica's triptych Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow (1963) with Marcello Mastroianni, Peter Ustinov's Lady L (1965) with Paul Newman, the 1966 classic Arabesque with Gregory Peck, and Charlie Chaplin's final film, A Countess from Hong Kong (1967) with Marlon Brando.

Loren received four Golden Globe Awards between 1964 and 1977 as "World Film Favorite - Female."^[12]

1970-1988[link]

Once she became a mother, Loren worked less. During the next decade, most of her roles were in Italian features. During the 1970s, she was paired with Richard Burton in the last De Sica-directed film, The Voyage (1974), and a remake of the film Brief Encounter (1974). The film had its premiere on U.S. television on 12 November 1974 as part of the Hallmark Hall of Fame series on NBC. In 1976 she starred in The Cassandra Crossing, a classic disaster film featuring such veteran stars as Richard Harris, Martin Sheen, and Ava Gardner. It fared extremely well internationally, and was a respectable box office success in US market. She also co-starred with Marcello Mastroianni in Ettore Scola's A Special Day (1977). This movie was nominated for eleven international awards such as two Oscars (best actor in leading role, best foreign picture). It won a Golden Globe award and a César award for best foreign movie. Loren's performance was awarded with a David di Donatello award, the seventh in her career. In addition the movie was extremely well received by American reviewers and was a box office smash.

Following this success, Loren starred in an American thriller Brass Target. This movie received mixed reviews, although it was moderately successful in the US and internationally. In 1978 she won her fourth Golden Globe for "world film favourite". Other movies of this decade were Academy award nominee Sunflower (1970) which was a critical success and Arthur Hiller's Man of La Mancha (1972) which was a critical and commercial failure despite being nominated for several awards including two Golden Globes awards. O'Toole and James Coco were nominated for two NBR awards, in addition the NBR listed Man of La Mancha in its best 10 pictures of 1972 list.

In 1980, after the international success the biography Sophia Loren: Living and Loving, Her Own Story by A. Hotchner, Loren portrayed herself and her mother in a made-for-television biopic adaptation of her autobiography entitled Sophia Loren: Her Own Story. Ritza Brown and Chiara Ferrari each portrayed the younger Loren. In 1981, she became the first female celebrity to launch her own perfume, Sophia, and a brand of eyewear soon followed.^[11] In 1982, while in Italy, she made headlines after serving an 18-day prison sentence on tax evasion charges—a fact that failed to hamper her popularity or career. In fact, Bill Moore, then employed at Pickle Packers International advertising department, sent her a pink pickle-shaped trophy for being "the prettiest lady in the prettiest pickle".

She acted infrequently during the 1980s and turned down the role of Alexis Carrington in 1981 for the TV series Dynasty. Although she was set to star in thirteen episodes of CBS's Falcon Crest in 1984 as Angela Channing's half-sister Francesca Gioberti, negotiations fell through at the last moment and the role went to Gina Lollobrigida instead. Sophia preferred devoting more time to raising her sons.^[13][14] In 1988 she starred in the miniseries The Fortunate Pilgrim.

Loren has also recorded well over two dozen songs throughout her career, including a best-selling album of comedic songs with Peter Sellers; reportedly, she had to fend off his romantic advances. It was partly owing to Sellers' infatuation with Loren that he split with his first wife, Anne Howe. Loren has made it clear to numerous biographers that Sellers' affections were reciprocated only platonically. This collaboration was covered in The Life and Death of Peter Sellers where actress Sonia Aquino portrayed Loren. It is said that the song "Where Do You Go To (My Lovely)" by Peter Sarstedt was inspired by Loren.^{[citation needed]}

Later career[link]

Loren in Paris at the César Awards 1991.

Loren in Kenya while serving as Goodwill Ambassador in 1992

In 1991, Loren received the Academy Honorary Award for her contributions to world cinema and was declared "one of the world cinema's treasures." In 1995, she received the Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award.

She presented Federico Fellini with his Honorary Oscar. In 2009 Loren stated on Larry King Live that Fellini had planned to direct her in a film shortly before his death in 1993.^[15]

Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, Loren was selective about choosing her films and ventured into various areas of business, including cook books, eyewear, jewellery and perfume.

She received a Golden Globe nomination for her performance in Robert Altman's film Ready to Wear (1994), co-starring Julia Roberts.

In the comedy Grumpier Old Men (1995), Loren played a femme fatale opposite Walter Matthau, Jack Lemmon, and Ann-Margret. The film was a box-office success and became Loren's biggest U.S. hit in years.^[11]

In 2001, Loren received a Special Grand Prix of the Americas Award at the Montreal World Film Festival for her body of work.^[16] She filmed two projects in Canada during this time: the independent film Between Strangers (2002), directed by her son Edoardo and co-starring Mira Sorvino, and the television miniseries Lives of the Saints (2004).

In 2009, after five years off the set and fourteen years since she starred in a prominent US theatrical film, Loren starred in Rob Marshall's film version of Nine, based on the Broadway musical that tells the story of a director whose midlife crisis causes him to struggle to complete his latest film; he is forced to balance the influences of numerous formative women in his life, including his deceased mother. Loren was Marshall's first and only choice for the role. The film also stars Daniel Day-Lewis, Penelope Cruz, Kate Hudson, Marion Cotillard, and Nicole Kidman. As a part of the cast she received her first nomination for a Screen Actors Guild Award.

In 2010, Loren played her own mother in a two-part Italian television miniseries about her early life, directed by Vittorio Sindoni, entitled La Mia Casa È Piena di Specchi (translated My House Is Full of Mirrors), based on the memoir written by her sister Maria.^[17]

Personal life[link]

Loren in 1986, by Allan Warren

Loren's primary residence has been in Geneva, Switzerland since late 2006.^[18] She also owns homes in Naples and Rome.

In September 1999, Loren filed a lawsuit against 76 adult websites for posting altered nude photos of her on the internet.^[19][20]

Loren is a huge fan of the football club S.S.C. Napoli. In May 2007, when the team was third in Serie B, she told the Gazzetta dello Sport that she would do a striptease if the team won.^[21]

Loren posed scantily-clad at 72 for the 2007 Pirelli Calendar along with such actresses as Penelope Cruz and Hilary Swank.^[22]

Loren is a devout Roman Catholic.^[23]

Marriage and family[link]

Loren first met Carlo Ponti in 1950 when she was 15 and he was 37. They married on 17 September 1957. However, Ponti was still officially married to his first wife Giuliana under Italian law because Italy did not recognize divorce at that time. The couple had their marriage annulled in 1962 to escape bigamy charges.^[24] In 1965, Ponti obtained a divorce from Giuliana in France, allowing him to marry Loren on 9 April 1966.^[25] They later became French citizens after their application was approved by then French President Georges Pompidou.^[26]

The couple had two sons: Carlo Ponti Jr. (born 29 December 1968) and Edoardo Ponti (born 6 January 1973).

Loren remained married to Carlo Ponti until his death on 10 January 2007 of pulmonary complications.^[27]

When asked in a November 2009 interview if she is ever likely to marry again, Loren replied "No, never again. It would be impossible to love anyone else."^[28]

Her daughters-in-law are Sasha Alexander and Andrea Meszaros.^[9][29] Loren has four grandchildren: Lucia Ponti (born 12 May 2006),^[30] Vittorio Ponti (born 3 April 2007).^[9] Leonardo Fortunato Ponti (born 20 December 2010) and Beatrice Lara Ponti (born 15 March 2012).

Filmography[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Sophia Loren

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Sophia Loren

• Sophia Loren at the Internet Movie Database
• Sophia Loren at the TCM Movie Database

Colin Montgomerie
Personal information
Full name	Colin Stuart Montgomerie OBE
Nickname	Monty
Born	(1963-06-23) 23 June 1963 (age 49) Glasgow, Scotland
Height	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Nationality	Scotland
Residence	Dunning, Perthshire, Scotland
Spouse	Eimear Wilson (1990–2006, divorced); 3 children Gaynor Knowles (2008–present)
Children	Olivia, Venetia, Cameron
Career
College	Houston Baptist University
Turned professional	1987
Current tour(s)	European Tour (joined 1988)
Professional wins	40
Number of wins by tour
European Tour	31 (4th all time)
Best results in Major Championships
Masters Tournament	T8: 1998
U.S. Open	2nd/T2: 1994, 1997, 2006
The Open Championship	2nd: 2005
PGA Championship	2nd: 1995
Achievements and awards
Order of the British Empire (Officer)	2005
European Tour Order of Merit winner	1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2005
Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year	1988
European Tour Player of the Year	1995, 1996, 1997, 1999

Colin Stuart Montgomerie, OBE (born 23 June 1963) is a Scottish professional golfer. He has won a record eight European Tour Order of Merit titles, including a streak of seven consecutively from 1993 to 1999, and 31 European Tour events, placing him fourth on the all time list. He has not, to date, won a major championship, after finishing runner-up on five occasions, or an official tournament on PGA Tour. His career high world ranking is second.^[1]

Early life[link]

Although Scottish by birth and ethnicity, he was raised in Yorkshire, England, where his father, James Montgomerie, was Managing Director of Fox's Biscuits.^[2] He spent a number of years with the Ilkley Golf Club, where he was tutored by the past professional Bill Ferguson. He was educated at both Leeds Grammar School and Strathallan School, Perthshire. During his time in Leeds, he became a supporter of Leeds United,^[3] but still remains a loyal supporter of Glasgow Rangers. His father later became the secretary of Royal Troon Golf Club, one of Scotland's most famous clubs. Montgomerie became one of the first British golfers to go to a United States college, attending Houston Baptist University, where he played on the golf team and became its top player. He won three important Scottish amateur tournaments – the 1983 Scottish Youths Championship, the 1985 Scottish Stroke Play Championship, and the 1987 Scottish Amateur Championship. He also played for Scotland twice in the Eisenhower Trophy (1984 and 1986) and for Great Britain and Ireland in the Walker Cup twice (1985 and 1987). Between 1988–91, Montgomerie completed a degree in Accountancy at the University of Stirling.

Career outline[link]

Montgomerie turned professional in 1988, and was named the Rookie of the Year on the European Tour that season. He quickly developed into one of Europe's top pros, winning his first event at the 1989 Portuguese Open by eight shots, and making his Ryder Cup debut in 1991. He finished first on the European Tour Order of Merit every year from 1993 to 1999 (a record for most consecutive Orders of Merit), and has 31 victories on the tour, including the 1998, 1999, and 2000 European PGA Championships. He first reached the top-10 in the Official World Golf Rankings in 1994, and spent almost 400 weeks in the top-10.^[4] His highest ranking was number two. In his prime Montgomerie was considered one of the best drivers of the golf ball in the world and became a very precise iron player, often able to judge the distance he hit the ball exactly from long range.

His form fell away gradually in the new millennium, partly due to marriage problems, and his ranking slumped to 82nd in the world, but he came back strongly in 2005, winning a record eighth European Tour Order of Merit and returning to the top ten in the World Rankings.^[5] Late in 2005 he became the first man to win 20 million Euros on the European Tour—topping the European Tour's all-time highest earners list. He remained the leader in career earnings on the European Tour until 2010, when he was surpassed by Ernie Els.

OBE[link]

At the end of 2004, Montgomerie was named an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the New Year's Honours. He represents the Turnberry resort in Scotland, where there is a Colin Montgomerie Golf Academy.

Current form[link]

After re-forming his partnership with caddie Alastair McLean in 2004, the pair split again on 10 June, a week before the start of the U.S. Open. Montgomerie managed to win for the first time in nearly two years at the Smurfit Kappa European Open in July 2007, silencing the critics who have asserted he would not win again. In mid-2008 Montgomerie slipped out of the top 100 players in the world ranking system.^[6]

A second place at the French Open in June boosted him back up the rankings, but his good play was short-lived, and as a result Montgomerie failed to qualify for Nick Faldo's 2008 Ryder Cup team. In March 2009, Montgomerie played in his milestone 500th European Tour event at the Open de Andalucia where he played well and made the cut, but was not a factor on the weekend. After nearly two years without a top-10 finish, Montgomerie produced something like his form of old to post a final round of 68 for a share of 7th place in the 2011 BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth. Montgomerie attributed his resurgence to improved driving accuracy and commented that he could contend more often if this were to continue.^{[citation needed]}

Form at major championships[link]

Montgomerie is generally considered to be one of the best golfers never to have won a major championship, after finishing in second place on five separate occasions. During what most consider to be his best years in the 1990s Montgomerie had several close shaves. A third place at the 1992 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach Golf Links was the first of these. He was prematurely congratulated by Jack Nicklaus who said "Congratulations on your first U.S. Open victory" to Monty after he finished the 18th hole on Sunday.^[7] Tom Kite, who was still on the golf course when Montgomerie finished, wound up winning the championship.

At the 1994 U.S. Open, played at Oakmont Country Club, Montgomerie lost in a three-man playoff to Ernie Els (a playoff which also included Loren Roberts). Famously, Montgomerie was left with only one shirt to play in during the Monday playoff, a dark tartan design, which did not help his cause in the very hot playing conditions. He shot 78 to trail the 74s shot by Els and Roberts, with Els winning at the 20th extra hole.

At the 1995 PGA Championship, Montgomerie birdied the final three holes of the Riviera Country Club course in the final round, to tie Steve Elkington at 17 under par, which was a record low score in a major championship. On the first sudden-death playoff hole, after being in better position after two shots, Montgomerie missed his putt, while Elkington holed from 35 feet to claim the title.

Els defeated Montgomerie at the 1997 U.S. Open, played at Congressional Country Club. Montgomerie opened the tournament with a 65 but shot a 76 in the second round. A bogey on the 71st hole dropped Montgomerie one shot behind Els, who parred the last to win.

At the 2006 U.S. Open, played on the West course of the Winged Foot Golf Club, Montgomerie had yet another chance to win his first major championship. He stood in the middle of the 18th fairway in the final round having sunk a 50-foot birdie putt on the 17th green, which put him in the lead. While waiting in position on the 18th fairway for the group in front to finish, Montgomerie switched his club from a 6-iron to a 7-iron, assuming adrenaline would kick in. Once the wait was over, he hit the approach shot poorly, ending up short and right of the green, in thick rough. He pitched onto the green, and then three-putted from 30 feet to lose the tournament by one stroke. After the loss, Montgomerie said, "At my age I've got to think positively. I'm 43 next week, and it's nice I can come back to this tournament and do well again, and I look forward to coming back here again next year and trying another U.S. Open disaster."^[8] Geoff Ogilvy won the championship.

Montgomerie's best finish in the Masters Tournament came in 1998 when he finished tied for 8th.

At The Open Championship, it is only in recent years that Montgomerie has shown signs of challenging to win. He started brightly in 2001 at Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club, with an opening 65, and still remained ahead after 36 holes, but fell away over the weekend. He was also in contention with two rounds to play at Muirfield in 2002 and Royal Troon Golf Club in 2004, but failed to capitalise and finished midway down the field. His best finish in the Championship came in 2005 at St Andrews, where he finished second to Tiger Woods, who beat him by five shots.

Ryder Cup and other team golf[link]

practicing before the 2004 Ryder Cup

Despite his disappointments in the majors, Montgomerie is heralded as one of the greatest Ryder Cup players of all time. To date he has been a member of the European team on eight occasions, and has never lost in a singles match. He holds a win-lose-draw record of 20–9–7, thus giving him a total points scored tally of 23.5, only 1.5 points behind the all time record held by Nick Faldo. He has played pivotal roles in several of the matches. He halved the last hole with Scott Hoch to obtain the half point that won Europe the cup in 1997, and sank the winning putt,^[9] in what is considered to be his finest hour in the 2004 staging of the event.

Montgomerie was not part of Nick Faldo's 2008 Ryder Cup team, with the wildcards going to Paul Casey and Ian Poulter. Montgomerie captained the Great Britain & Ireland team in the first four stagings of the Seve Trophy, losing in 2000 but winning in 2002, 2003, and 2005.

On 28 January 2009, it was announced that Montgomerie would be the captain the European team at the 2010 Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor.^[10] On 4 October 2010, Montgomerie led the European team to victory, 14½ to 13½.^[11] On the same day he also announced that he would be stepping down as captain of the European Team.^[12] In December 2010, he accepted the BBC Sports Personality Coach of the Year award as captain of the victorious Ryder Cup team.^[13]

Montgomerie has been the playing captain of the European team in the Royal Trophy, played against a team from Asia. Europe was successful on both those occasions. He has the distinction of being the only person to have been a victorious player and captain in the Ryder Cup, Seve Trophy and Royal Trophy – the three main team golf competitions open to players from Europe.^{[citation needed]}

Relationship with the golfing public[link]

Colin Montgomerie at the Austrian Open 2006

Montgomerie has often come under fire for his attitude on the golf course. He is noted for his lack of focus, and quite often becomes distracted by seemingly very minor incidents.^{[citation needed]}

Personal life[link]

Montgomerie met his first wife Eimear Wilson, from Troon,^[2] when he was a good amateur and she was a promotions assistant. She was a 17-year-old law student at Edinburgh University and a spectator at an amateur championship in Nairn, at which Montgomerie destroyed the field.^[14] The couple had three children (Olivia, Venetia, and Cameron), and lived in Oxshott, Surrey. In 2002, Eimear gave Montgomerie an ultimatum to choose between golf and marriage, resulting in Montgomerie spending 10 weeks alone before they agreed to try again.

In 2006, the couple finally broke up, with Eimear suing for divorce on grounds of unreasonable behavior due to his obsession with golf,^[15] claiming it left her suffering from anxiety and depression.^[16] In 2006, the couple agreed to a clean break divorce settlement of £8 million, in return for Eimear giving up any claim on Colin's future earnings.^[17][18][19]

Since the divorce, he has had various relationships, including Spanish model Ines Sastre,^[20] and a divorced neighbour Jo Baldwin, whom he met on the school run.^[21] Their split, he suggested, caused his worst run in his professional career.^[22]

In 2007, Montgomerie announced his engagement to Scottish millionairess Gaynor Knowles. The couple wed on 19 April 2008 at Loch Lomond Golf Club.^[23][24] On 8 July 2010, Montgomerie was granted a super injunction by Mr Justice Eady, which came to light when he attended a press conference at the 2010 PGA Championship in Wisconsin.^[25]

Montgomerie has been successfully defended twice by celebrity driving solicitor Nick Freeman for traffic infractions and speeding. Montgomerie was acquitted the first time when the policeman who was said to have caught him travelling at 96 mph on the A3 near Esher, Surrey (a 70 mph road) at 12:50 am failed to attend court. Montgomerie's second acquittal saved him from a 56 day ban in November 2008, after Montgomerie was caught driving his Bentley Continental Flying Spur and failing to pay the fine. Freeman revealed that Montgomerie hated flying, and drove 55,000 miles per annum in part to visit his children.^[26]

Golfing record[link]

Amateur wins (3)[link]

• 1985 Scottish Stroke Play Championship
• 1987 Scottish Amateur Championship

European Tour wins (31)[link]

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning Score	Margin of Victory	Runner(s)-up
1	22 Oct 1989	Portuguese Open - TPC	-24 (67–65–69–63=264)	11 strokes	Rodger Davis, Manuel Moreno, Mike Smith
2	4 Aug 1991	Scandinavian Masters	-18 (68–65–70–67=270)	1 stroke	Seve Ballesteros
3	25 Jul 1993	Heineken Dutch Open	-7 (68–73–71–69=281)	1 stroke	José Cóceres, Jean van de Velde
4	7 Nov 1993	Volvo Masters	-10 (69–70–67–68=274)	1 stroke	Darren Clarke
5	15 May 1994	Peugeot Open de Espana	-11 (70–71–66–70=277)	1 stroke	Richard Boxall, Mark McNulty, Mark Roe
6	21 Aug 1994	Murphy's English Open	-14 (70–67–68–69=274)	1 stroke	Barry Lane
7	28 Aug 1994	Volvo German Open	-19 (65–68–66–70=269)	1 stroke	Bernhard Langer
8	27 Aug 1995	Volvo German Open	-16 (69–64–68–67=268)	1 stroke	Niclas Fasth, Sam Torrance
9	10 Sep 1995	Trophée Lancôme	-11 (64–69–65–71=269)	1 stroke	Sam Torrance
10	17 Mar 1996	Dubai Desert Classic	-18 (67–68–67–68=270)	1 stroke	Miguel Ángel Jiménez
11	7 Jul 1996	Murphy's Irish Open	-5 (69–69–73–68=279)	1 stroke	Andrew Oldcorn, Wayne Riley
12	8 Sep 1996	Canon European Masters	-24 (64–71–61–63=260)	4 strokes	Sam Torrance
13	8 Jun 1997	Compaq European Grand Prix	-18 (69–68–68–65=270)	5 strokes	Retief Goosen
14	6 Jul 1997	Murphy's Irish Open	-15 (68–70–69–62=269)	7 strokes	Lee Westwood
15	25 May 1998	Volvo PGA Championship	-14 (70–70–65–69=274)	1 stroke	Ernie Els, Gary Orr, Patrik Sjöland
16	13 Sep 1998	One 2 One British Masters	-7 (70–72–70–69=281)	1 stroke	Pierre Fulke, Eduardo Romero
17	27 Sep 1998	Linde German Masters	-22 (65–68–66–67=266)	1 stroke	Robert Karlsson, Vijay Singh
18	16 May 1999	Benson & Hedges International Open	-15 (68–66–71–68=273)	3 strokes	Ángel Cabrera, Per-Ulrik Johansson
19	31 May 1999	Volvo PGA Championship	-18 (69–70–67–64=270)	5 strokes	Mark James
20	10 Jul 1999	Standard Life Loch Lomond	-16 (69–65–70–64=268)	3 strokes	Sergio García, Michael Jonzon, Mats Lanner
21	8 Aug 1999	Volvo Scandinavian Masters	-20 (67–67–65–69=268)	9 strokes	Jesper Parnevik
22	22 Aug 1999	BMW International Open	-20 (69–65–64–70=268)	3 strokes	Pádraig Harrington
23	7 May 2000	Novotel Perrier Open de France	-16 (71–68–65–68=272)	2 strokes	Jonathan Lomas
24	29 May 2000	Volvo PGA Championship	-17 (67–65–70–69=271)	3 strokes	Darren Clarke, Andrew Coltart, Lee Westwood
25	1 Jun 2001	Murphy's Irish Open	-18 (63–69–68–66=266)	5 strokes	Darren Clarke, Niclas Fasth, Pádraig Harrington
26	5 Aug 2001	Volvo Scandinavian Masters	-14 (66–69–69–70=274)	1 stroke	Ian Poulter, Lee Westwood
27	10 Nov 2002	Volvo Masters Andalucia	-3 (70–69–72–70=281)	Shared*	Bernhard Langer
28	21 Mar 2004	Caltex Masters	-16 (71–69–67–65=272)	3 strokes	Gregory Hanrahan
29	2 Oct 2005	Dunhill Links Championship	-9 (70–65–73–71=279)	1 stroke	Kenneth Ferrie
30	4 Dec 2005	UBS Hong Kong Open	-9 (69–66–66–70=271)	1 stroke	K.J. Choi, James Kingston, Lin Keng-chi, Edward Loar, Thammanoon Srirot
31	8 Jul 2007	Smurfit Kappa European Open	-11 (69–71–64–65=269)	1 stroke	Niclas Fasth

*Montgomerie and Langer agreed to share the 2002 Volvo Masters Andalucia, after failing light caused play to halt after two holes of a playoff. *Montgomerie came first in the Volvo Bonus Pool every year from 1993 to 1998. The Volvo Bonus Pool was an extra tranche of prize money awarded at the end of each European Tour season from 1988 to 1998 to the regular members of the tour who had had the best performances over the season.

Other wins (9)[link]

• 1996 Nedbank Million Dollar Challenge (South Africa – unofficial event)
• 1997 Andersen Consulting World Championship of Golf, King Hassan II Trophy (Morocco)
• 1999 Cisco World Match Play Championship (United Kingdom – not an official money event at that time.)
• 2000 Skins Game (United States)
• 2001 Ericsson Masters (Australia)
• 2002 TCL Classic (China)
• 2003 Macau Open (China)
• 2007 Omega Mission Hills World Cup (with Marc Warren)

Results in major championships[link]