Colin Montgomerie has described Rory McIlroy as the finest European golfer of all time, praising the Northern Irishman after an outstanding 2025 campaign.
McIlroy ended an 11-year major drought by completing the career Grand Slam with a dramatic victory at the Masters in April. His season also featured a Ryder Cup triumph in New York — Europe’s first on US soil since 2012 — and another DP World Tour Order of Merit title. That latest Race to Dubai win, his fourth in a row and seventh overall, leaves him one shy of Montgomerie’s record eight Order of Merit crowns.
Montgomerie told Sky Sports that, now McIlroy has won all four majors, he would place him above Nick Faldo and consider him the greatest European player ever. He argued that while Faldo and Seve Ballesteros boast more majors overall, McIlroy’s career Grand Slam is a unique achievement for a European, and he would welcome McIlroy surpassing his Order of Merit record.
He added that McIlroy has little left to prove: having captured every major and won Ryder Cup matches away from home twice (2012 and 2025), Montgomerie expects McIlroy to continue adding to his legacy and believes he could eventually break the Order of Merit mark.
McIlroy returned the compliment, calling Montgomerie underrated and highlighting the Scot’s remarkable consistency — seven straight Order of Merit titles from 1993–99 and eight overall. McIlroy noted that sustaining that level against contemporaries such as Faldo, Sandy Lyle, Bernhard Langer and Ian Woosnam isn’t talked about enough.
Montgomerie said he was touched by McIlroy’s praise and reflected on how much the European game has changed since his early days on tour. He recalled the depth of talent in earlier eras, when events could finish with multiple major champions clustered at the top of the leaderboard — a scene he feels is rarer now.
Looking at the broader landscape, Montgomerie pointed to the dominance of McIlroy and world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler in 2025, noting that the pair occupied the top two spots with a noticeable gap to the rest of the field. He expects both to remain the leading figures into 2026 and tipped McIlroy for another strong season as he returns to defend The Masters.
Montgomerie made his remarks ahead of representing Team Europe in the Skechers World Champions Cup — a global, Ryder Cup- and Presidents Cup-style team event supporting Shriners Children’s — scheduled for December 4–7.