Monty ponders his invitation

A new series of events has been mooted this week called the Major Champions Tour. Fred Couples is behind the venture which hopes to set up around 10 tournaments a year, each featuring 20 major champions at venues such as Merion, Oakmont and Winged Foot. Less a rival to the regular circuits, the new "tour" may steal the thunder of the Seniors Tour since the age qualification will be for 37-year-olds to 55-year-olds.

At 38, Colin Montgomerie passes the birth-certificate test but fails the basic qualification. While seven Order of Merit victories represent a sizeable bank deposit, compared to the game's major currency, the exchange rate is unfavourable. But then, of course, the Scot has hinted his appearances in the States are to become as rare as the franc, punt or peseta.

Montgomerie has not enjoyed a particularly auspicious start to the season. In three competitive rounds, he has completed 18 holes only once. He retired during the second round of the Johnnie Walker Classic in Perth with a back injury and while at the Accenture World Matchplay he was beaten 2 and 1 by the eventual runner-up Scott McCarron in the first round. It was after suffering more heckling at La Costa that Monty made his announcement that he would not be returning to America after this season.

It is time for a new beginning and this week provides the perfect opportunity with the Dubai Desert Classic. The setting is familiar – the event arrived on the European Tour in 1989, only a year after Montgomerie himself – and the Scot won at the Emirates club in 1996. The victory, sealed with a superb driver "off the deck" approach shot at the last, came after a lengthy winter break and heralded some of the best golf Monty has ever played.

After a couple of months of co-sanctioned events with other tours, this is the first full-field European Tour event of the season. Although there will be no Tiger Woods, beaten at the 72nd hole by Thomas Bjorn last year, Ernie Els will return to the course where his 61 is the course record. Apart from visiting the course he designed, Emirate Hills, which opened for limited play last year, Montgomerie is anxious to see how his form and fitness hold up over a full tournament.

When his back went again, Montgomerie underwent intensive physiotherapy and he has spent many hours swimming to increase his core stability. Consultations with the specialists have also provided him with a better understanding of when damage is being done, and when it is merely painful.

He took another important step during his winter practice sessions with coach Dennis Pugh. For a couple of seasons, rather than blaming his putting, Montgomerie should have been working on a long game that was not as consistently repetitive as of old. Realisation came that the influence of Woods had caused him to hit at the ball too hard, usually the curse of the amateur. With Pugh and some old videos, Monty has been working on recapturing the rhythm of his old reliable fade. Neither Perth nor La Costa provided much feedback under tournament conditions. "That's why I am looking forward to getting in 72 holes in Dubai," Montgomerie said. "Against Scott McCarron, the back felt fine and I didn't miss a fairway or drop a shot.

"Coming into that week, success for me was going to be hitting the shots I wanted to hit and I did that. I feel as if I am back into things and playing well. I worked really hard on getting fit and having made the effort it was unfortunate to lose in a match where there was only ever going to be one hole in it."

What happens after Dubai, however, is intriguing. He is due to go immediately to the Bay Hill Invitational in Orlando and the Players' Championship in Sawgrass, but the itinerary remained in doubt last week. "Colin is reviewing a lot of things and Bay Hill is among them," said Guy Kinnings, his manager at IMG. "My own view is that he is loath to be dictated to by anyone, but these are not decisions to take lightly."

The only chance of Montgomerie losing the tag as American galleries' favourite punch bag would be to win a major championship. And to do that he not only has to play in them but be prepared for them, which would include playing in the main warm-up events.

As much as his quality of life might increase by playing only on the European Tour, Montgomerie would hardly be putting in the effort to improve his game and fitness if he were not to compete regularly against the best. Playing through the pain, in so many ways, should become his new mantra. Then, should he at some point become eligible for the Major Champions' Tour, he could happily reply to the invitation: "Thanks, but no, thanks."