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The whole nation held its breath as Montgomerie came agonisingly close to claiming his first Major title in New York State only to lose out by a shot in the end to Australian Geoff Ogilvy.
Now Montgomerie will turn his attention to the magnificent PGA Centenary Course €" venue for The 2014 Ryder Cup €" and a tournament where, once again, he will assume the mantle of Championship Chairman.
No Scot has won the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles in its seven year history and the eight time European Tour Order of Merit winner will head a home cast hoping to put that right.
Alongside Montgomerie at the forefront of the home challenge will be 1999 Open Champion Paul Lawrie. The 37 year old from Aberdeen is no stranger to success on Scottish soil having claimed his Open title at Carnoustie and followed that with success in the 2001 dunhill links championship. played over the Old Course at St Andrews, Carnoustie and Kingsbarns.
Likewise, Stephen Gallacher knows what it is like to win in front of a home crowd having lifted the dunhill links championship title in 2004.
The best performances in the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles by home grown players to date were in 2002, when Raymond Russell finished second to Adam Scott, and then 12 months later when Alastair Forsyth also occupied the runners-up position to Sren Kjeldsen. No fewer than 24 Scots will be trying to go one better this week, including last year's Challenge Tour Number One Marc Warren.
Another player teeing up at Gleneagles following his tilt at the US Open Championship will be England's Kenneth Ferrie, who shared the third round lead at Winged Foot with Phil Mickelson before finishing in a tie for sixth place. Ferrie won many friends with his performance in what was his first Major on American soil and is certain to be full of confidence as he faces the challenge of the Jack Nicklaus-designed PGA Centenary Course.
Meanwhile, on The Ryder Cup front, Thomas Bj¶rn, Paul Broadhurst, Paul Casey, Robert Karlsson and Paul McGinley are among those looking to firm up their claim on a place in Ian Woosnam's European Team for The K Club this September.
Italy's Emanuele Canonica will be defending the title following his maiden European Tour triumph last summer. Since the event became part of The European Tour International Schedule in 1999, four of the winners have made this event their first victory €" Warren Bennett (1999), Paul Casey (2001), Kjeldsen (2003) and Canonica (2005).
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