Colin Montgomerie thoroughly enjoyed his week as the crowd favorite. (Photo: Getty Images)

Monty feels like he's back out of the wilderness

Colin Montgomerie couldn't reel Tiger Woods in, but his second-place finish marked his best result in a major in eight years. And, he said, it showed that he is well on his way back after a prolonged slump and painful divorce.

ST. ANDREWS, Scotland (PA) -- Colin Montgomerie didn't pull off his long-awaited first major victory Sunday at St. Andrews, but nevertheless said he felt like he had emerged from "three years in the wilderness" after finishing second.

Montgomerie threatened to claim a fairytale victory on the Old Course after closing to within a shot of Tiger Woods after nine holes of the final round. The 42-year-old Scot was unable to maintain that momentum, however, dropping three shots on the inward nine to eventually card a closing 72 to finish at 9-under 279, five shots behind Woods.

That was still good enough for his fourth second-place in a major championship and his best performance since finishing sixth in the 1999 PGA Championship. And it provided the latest evidence of his vast improvement from starting the year in 81st in the world rankings after a slump and the break up of his marriage after 14 years.

"I've thoroughly enjoyed this week and competing again at this level," said Montgomerie. "It's been eight years since I finished second in a major [to Ernie Els in the 1997 U.S. Open] and that's a long time. Fortunately, I've remained healthy enough that my career is having a resurgence after three years in the wilderness.

"It's fantastic to get back to where I was in the '90s, and there's no disgrace in finishing second to the best player in the world," he added. "I'm taking lots of positives from this week. I was within one shot of Tiger at the turn and anything can happen.

"Unfortunately, I hit the wrong club on the 11th when the wind switched and made bogey there," he explained. "That threw me a bit and I didn't get the same momentum coming home.

"In hindsight, it would probably have been better to have played with Tiger. He had a great advantage in knowing exactly what was going on. But I gave a great effort and I'll be starting the next major full of confidence that I'm capable of doing well."

Montgomerie also praised the 40,000+ crowd for its support.

"The crowd were phenomenal the whole way round, even when they realized I wasn't going to win," he said. "They realized my job was to finish second and they helped me do that."

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