Monty’s Messy love life
Former Ryder Cup golf captain Colin Montgomerie is suing his estranged second wife for £5m over a post-nuptial deal
oN THE golf course he was known for his calm, steady precision – a style of play that saw him win a record eight European Tour Order of Merit titles and 31 European Tour events, more than any other British player. But away from the gentlemanly tranquillity of the fairways Colin Montgomerie’s personal life has often been far more chaotic. And this week an Edinburgh court has been hearing the messy details of the fallout from his latest divorce.
Both Montgomerie, 53, and ex-wife Gaynor Knowles, 50, are suing each other for £5million. He is also demanding payments from her of £6,500 a month – while Gaynor’s counter-action is for the £5million plus £10,000-amonth payments.
The couple split two years ago and the current dispute hinges on a so-called “post-nuptial agreement” signed by Montgomerie in 2010. The deal, drawn up after Gaynor discovered texts between the golfer and a lover, stated that should the couple ever separate he would be committed to the upkeep of her £2million farmhouse in Perthshire.
But Court of Session judge Lord Doherty has heard this week that Montgomerie believes the deal is not fair and reasonable and that he thought it would only come into effect if he had cheated on his wife again – something he is adamant he has not done.
He also said he feared he would have been axed as captain of Europe’s Ryder Cup team if he and Gaynor had divorced and that ultimately he signed it to save their marriage.
It is just the latest episode in the golfer’s turbulent – and often colourful – love life. Despite a cool-headed career that saw him ascend to No2 in the world, win the Ryder Cup as both player and captain, secure a job as a pundit with Sky Sports and amass an estimated fortune of £25-40million, his romantic history has been considerably less well-ordered.
In 2004, after 14 years together, he split from first wife Eimear Wilson, mother of his three children. The couple had met when she was just 17 and he 24 but as his career took off the pressure began to tell.
In a 2001 interview he confessed to the difficulties of juggling his sport and relationships. “Life,” he said, “can’t be much fun for the wife of any top sportsman who becomes as ambitious, dedicated and blinkered as I was over such a sustained period.”
Eimear eventually sued for divorce on the grounds of “unreasonable behaviour due to his obsession with golf” and the couple settled on an £8million payout by the golfer.
RICH, famous and suddenly single for the first time in over a decade, Montgomerie embarked on a string of whirlwind relationships after the divorce – the first of which was with Joanne Baldwin, a friend of his ex-wife whom he had met on the school run. The relationship didn’t last… but the couple kept in touch. Next came a two-month fling with Spanish model Ines Sastre, 10 years his junior. After that fizzled out (she described him as “boring”, he said she was “suffocating”) he returned to Joanne. It was to prove something of a pattern for Montgomerie.
In 2006 they separated again and Montgomerie dated a string of glamorous high-profile women, including former Miss England Helen Westlake and BBC Scotland journalist Alison Walker. That summer he was even spotted at Wimbledon with catwalk model Alex Leigh, though he later claimed they were just good friends.
Later that year he met Gaynor. Widowed three years earlier when her property tycoon husband George Knowles suffered a heart attack, she was a millionaire in her own right. After the couple married in 2008 and he moved into her house in Perthshire it seemed the unlucky-inlove golfer had finally settled down. It was not to be.
During the hearing this week Montgomerie admitted to his advocate Kenneth McBrearty QC that he had twice cheated on Gaynor during their eight-year marriage. Firstly with Baldwin – the pair rekindled their romance just months after the wedding, even as he and Gaynor embarked on a multimillion pound refurbishment of their home – and then with a woman he referred to as a “golf stalker”. At the time he confessed both infidelities to Gaynor and she forgave him.
But in 2010, while on a family holiday in Dubai, Gaynor caught Monty texting a lover and following a “blazing row” the postnup was drawn up, saying at the time: “I have put my marriage under considerable strain but we are working through these problems. I am very sorry for the hurt I have caused to the ones I love so much.”
Last year the couple finally separated. He insisted there were no “third parties” involved but almost immediately the couple began legal action against each other – culminating in this week’s court hearing. Yesterday Montgomerie’s solicitors issued this statement: “I will not be commenting on my private life other than to confirm I raised proceedings some time ago seeking divorce. This matter is now being dealt with by the court. I ask that you respect our privacy in this difficult time. I will be making no further comment.”