He used to say his best hometown performance was marrying Troon beauty Eimear Wilson at Troon Old Parish Church, a mile from Royal Troon's first tee. After a separation in 2000 that left Monty sobbing in his hotel room and wandering the dark streets of London, the jet-set couple called it quits this spring. Their last fight, "A Blazing Row" (The Sun) after Monty's second-round 80 to miss the cut at The Masters, began with him storming off the grounds, stranding Eimear, and ended with a shouting match that kept at least one neighbor up all night.

Colin Montgomerie hits out of the sand on the 15 during the 2004 Ryder Cup Fred Vuich

"Do your best to keep things together," Price said, "and if it doesn't work out, don't blame yourself."

One tabloid reported that Monty watched The Masters on TV over the weekend and was crushed to see Phil Mickelson win -- to see his successor as Best Player Never To Have Won a Major shed that horrible label. The following weekend, Colin and Eimear went through with a holiday to Barbados. It was perhaps their last chance to rekindle their ardor.

His marriage in tatters, Monty moved into their flat in London and learned how to use a dishwasher; Eimear and their three children, ages 11, 8 and 6, remained in the $4 million Oxshott mansion the couple called "Nairn" after the town where Colin met Eimear in 1987.

Montgomerie played on but seemed on the verge of falling apart between the ropes. In late April, the Sunday Mirror reported on the cozy relationship between Eimear and actor Hugh Grant, whom Colin had befriended at a pro-am. Montgomerie pulled out of the VW Masters in Hong Kong to fly back to Oxshott.

It was to be "Monty's Divorce Summit" (The Sun) and sure enough the action picked up speed. Colin and Eimear, 35, issued a statement that read, in part, "We have sadly decided to separate, with a view to divorce." Days later, Eimear, who had been romantically linked to soccer star turned TV commentator Gary Lineker, was photographed canoodling with Marc Rowlands, 36, an Oxford-educated barrister.

"We're just friends," she told the Daily Mail even as the Sunday Mirror trumpeted, "Eimear's Fore-play Exclusive -- Kisses & cuddles with lawyer love; They date as Monty tries to save marriage."

Eimear and Rowlands had been spotted hugging on the street and dining "at London's chic Oxo Tower restaurant." According to "a friend of the couple," she had been seeing Rowlands for four months and was "besotted" with him.

Misty-eyed Monty was "devastated... over wife's secret affair" (Mirror). With one eye on his disintegrating marriage and one on his game, he fell out of the top 50 in the World Ranking and for the first time in 12 years missed the U.S. Open.

He wasn't even exempt at Troon, but survived a 12-man playoff in an Open qualifier at Sunningdale to earn his way in. It was "the first decent thing that's happened to me on the course in a long time," he said. But even that escape was melodramatic. He had been cruising toward a qualifying spot only to lose his cool when he spotted a certain spectator near the ninth tee during his second round.

"I can't believe he's here watching!" Montgomerie huffed, according to the Sunday Mail. "That's unbelievable!" He hooked his drive into the heather, slammed his driver into his bag so hard fans thought he'd broken it, and bogeyed the hole. He seemed to be weeping. Soon The Express and others were investigating "The Riddle of Monty's Stalker." Was it Hugh Grant? Marc Rowlands? It turned out to be Sunningdale member and wealthy hotelier Alasdair Hadden-Paton, a friend of Eimear's.

Colin Montgomerie birdies the 16th at the 2004 Ryder Cup Fred Vuich

"From what I heard, she hasn't been a very nice person," Tom Lehman said. "I wouldn't wish that on anybody. You can play bad, but going home to the wife and kids puts things in perspective. And when that goes south, it's like shaking a tree at the roots."

But perspective was never Montgomerie's strong suit, wife and kids or not. Eimear "understood that there were times when it would be madness to interrupt the momentum of a good golfing streak," he wrote in The Real Monty, explaining his absences from family events including his kids' birthdays.

Longtime Monty-watchers had another reason to anticipate his divorce. Troon's worst-kept secret was that the Montgomeries and Wilsons didn't get along.

"Never lose that lovely girl," the late Betty Montgomerie told her youngest son, according to The Real Monty, but Troon townies doubt it's true. Colin's father, James, Troon's taciturn former club secretary, attended The Masters every year -- until, locals say, he and Eimear came to loathe each other's company so much that he wouldn't go to any tournament where he might see her. A source close to Montgomerie denied knowledge of that rift; in any case, it hardly matters anymore.

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