Monty pays $40m for divorce
By Fiona Hudson in London
February 3, 2006
GOLF ace Colin Montgomerie has ended a bitter divorce wrangle by giving his ex-wife a payout of up to $40 million.
Europe's top golfer, Montgomerie, 42, agreed to give childhood sweetheart Eimear, 36, more than half his fortune - one of the biggest divorce settlements in Britain.
The couple had been due in London's High Court yesterday to thrash out the matter, but reached an agreement before the case began.
The long-term marriage ended in 2004 with Mrs Montgomerie claiming she was tired of her husband's obsession with golf, and that it left her anxious and depressed.
The one-off payment was double the sum predicted, with legal experts suggesting Eimear must have given up the right to claim on the golfer's future earnings.
Montgomerie collected at least $A5 million in prizemoney last year with a return to form rocketing him from 83rd in the world to eighth.
His return to form coincided with his discovery of new love with girlfriend Jo Baldwin, whom he met at the gate of his children's school after his marriage collapsed.
The Ryder Cup champion was back on the golf course in Dubai yesterday for a pro-am competition, but declined to comment on the deal: "I'm here and you can see that I'm OK."
His manager Guy Kinnings confirmed the out-of-court settlement.
"It's fair to say Colin is relieved. He's relieved everything has been resolved. It's been a pretty difficult time for him."
Yeah, I'll bet it has.....
I'm just friggin' speechless on this one, I mean, there's a lot of good reasons for getting divorced, but divorcing because you husband is working (the same job he has for years) to provide your dumb-ass with an income??? Suck it up biyatch.