Colin Montgomerie may not exactly be welcomed with open arms if he joins the US PGA Tour next year, if comments by some US tour regulars were any indication. Fred Funk and Bob Estes were incensed by statements attributed to Montgomerie prior to the Ryder Cup last month, particularly by his suggestion that Brad Faxon would not be a threat because his mind would be on his divorce.

"He (Montgomerie) is the jerk of the world, as far as I'm concerned," Funk, winner of four PGA Tour events, said. "I'm going to tell him that to his face. He had no right to say those things about Faxon. And the other shots he took were uncalled for, too."

Among Montgomerie's other inflammatory statements were that Jeff Maggert would intimidate nobody and that Tiger Woods was not about to win all his Ryder Cup matches. Although most of Montgomerie's predictions proved accurate, the lack of sportmanship did not sit well with Funk.

"I think when he comes to play over here he's going to get the cold shoulder from a lot of guys," Funk predicted.

Estes was not about to roll out the welcome mat for Montgomerie either: "Who's Monty going to play practice rounds with?," Estes said. "I always knew he was a cry baby."

Ulsterman David Feherty, a member of Europe's 1991 Ryder Cup team, tried to come to Montgomerie's defence, sort of: "The thing about Monty is he's not the sharpest knife in the drawer. He's a few french fries short of a Happy Meal," said Feherty, who now works as a golf commentator for an American television network.

"His mind goes on vacation and leaves his mouth in charge, but he's really not a bad guy."