Monty wants to open cancer unit in memory of his beloved mot

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9 July 2006

EXCLUSIVE: TEE-MENDOUS

Monty wants to open cancer unit in memory of his beloved mother

Euan Mclean In Dublin

GOLF hero Colin Montgomerie plans to build a multi-million lung cancer unit in Scotland to honour the memory of his late mother.

He is looking at sites in Glasgow for a ward dedicated to the care of patients suffering from the disease.

Monty, 43, whose mother Elizabeth died in 1991 aged just 52, is ready to plunge millions of pounds into the project.

Dad James and Elizabeth taught Monty how to play golf while he was growing up on Scotland's west coast.

He said: "I help a number of causes but mostly now I'm going to direct my charity work towards trying to do something in Glasgow.

"There's a number of potential clients and my agent Guy Kinnings and I are looking at a variety of sites where we may be able to do something to help others who are going through the same problems as my late mum.

"It's in the early stages and it can take years to get through the red tape when you are dealing with Government and local authorities but the process has started and that's the important thing.

"It would be a hospital unit designed for the treatment and care of lung cancer patients.

"If there's anything I can do to help people suffering from that, then great."

In his autobiography, The Real Monty, he said: "My mother's pride added an extra dimension to my golf, both at amateur level and when I turned professional.

"When I won the 1989 Portuguese Open, she delighted in the way I had competed with all the guys she knew so well from following golf on the television.

"Mum understood sport and I always appreciated the fact that I was able to 'talk golf' with her."

Monty supports the CHAS childrens' hospices and the British Heart Foundation.

He will travel to Africa next year to support the BBC's Sport Relief initiative in an ambassadorial role.

He said: "They want to take me out to see the problems and what their work is doing out there to help but I ran out of time to do it this year.

"I know it will be a sobering and important experience. Apparently you come back a different person once you have seen the poverty out there."