COLIN MONTGOMERIE today teed off in search of a hat-trick of Senior Tour victories.

The Scot is the favourite to land the Senior British Open title after capturing the Senior PGA Championship and the Senior US Open.

And, as he prepared to get his challenge underway at Porthcawl, he reckons he is playing as well as he did during his pomp in the nineties.

The former Europe Ryder Cup skipper said: "The courses have got longer but technology has helped us all.

"I am cetainly putting better than I used to do. There is more freedom on the putting green, less pressure on the putts so therefore they are going in.

"And if you putt well you usually score well and that's what is happening.

"Between the ages of 45 and 50 I was treading water and nothing very exciting was happening. Now I'm excited again. This is a new chapter in my tour career.

"If Bernhard Langer can win events in his mid-fifites and Tom Watson can challenge for The Open in his sixties then, yes, I'll do this for a couple of years.

"The main thing is I'm enjoying it. There is a lot more depth in the Seniors tour than people give credit for. These guys can play."

Monty was also still bathing in the aftermath of Rory McIlroy's momentous triumph in The Open at Hoylake.

Montgomerie has watched the 25-year-old Northern Irishman's career develop at breakneck pace since he burst on to the PGA tour six years ago. And he agrees that McIlroy's Major streak can continue for years to come.

He said: "There is plenty more to come and eventually I think he will eclipse Sir Nick Faldo as Britain's greatest-ever golfer.

"Sir Nick won six Majors and Rory is well on his way.

"He is well on his way to the Grand Slam, he only needs the Masters to finish and win all four Majors and there are very few people who have done that. And the one that would suit him down to the ground, in fact, is the Masters.

"I think the putting has just lost him that event in the past.

"But he will work that out and go into the Masters next April as hot favourite.

"If he could win all four Majors by the time he is 26, well, that would be remarkable.

"But I have no doubt it is well within his grasp."