It was a deserved victory for the mercurial Scotsman but, as is usually the case when he is stalking the links, drama was not in short supply as he stumbled to triumph.
Two poor shots on the K Club's final two holes, both of which came within inches of disaster, conjured up memories of Winged Foot in 2005. Back then, Montgomerie's duffed seven-iron on the 72nd hole led to a double bogey and cost him his life's ambition of winning the US Open.
This time, however, the golfing gods rewarded him for his wonderful striking of the ball over the four days with outrageous luck, particularly on the 182-yard closing hole when his six-iron tee shot appeared destined for water until it clung on to the bank of the greenside lake. From there, Montgomerie hit a beautiful recovery shot to four feet and rolled in the putt. He had enjoyed a similar escape on the previous hole, where he came close to hitting his approach into water before escaping with par. No wonder he marched off towards the scorer's hut looking like a Cheshire cat with the deeds to the dairy farm.
The Scot's bank manager, not to mention his new caddie, Craig Connolly - on 10% of his master's winnings - will have cast a delighted eye over the £400,000 first-place cheque but the money was the least of the player's concerns. Montgomerie is a proud man and his pride has taken a kicking since his last tournament victory, at the Hong Kong Open in 2005. Winged Foot aside, he has barely threatened to win a tournament over the past 19 months and cut an abject figure at last month's US Open in shooting a 12-over-par 82 - the second worst score in his major championship career. That sent him homeward to think again.
Montgomerie re-emerged at last week's French Open with his new caddie and a new attitude. He finished third and his good form followed him across to Ireland. Rounds of 69, 64 and 71 meant that he started yesterday's final round on six under par, four shots behind, and seven groups ahead, of the overnight leader Soren Hansen. But three birdies in the first six holes quickly established him inside the top three and, more importantly, inside the heads of those around him.
In his mid-1990s pomp the Scotsman would have terrified journeymen such as Hansen, Robert Rock and Grégory Havret, who were in leading positions at the start of day’s play. He is no longer the same dominating force but he still has enough stage presence to turn heads.
Victory seemed assured, but in Montyworld nothing is straightforward. A lightning storm halted play for 80 minutes, with only six players left to finish their rounds. Alas for the Scot's nerves, one of those was Fasth, who had narrowed the gap to one shot. The Swede has a reputation as one of the best finishers on the European tour and had the opportunity to live up to that when play resumed but missed birdie putts on the final two greens to finish second.
The victory was Montgomerie's 31st on the European tour and took him past Nick Faldo's European tour career record.

The Guardian