Colin Montgomerie will compete in his fifth successive major this week when he launches the defence of his US Senior Open Championship at Del Paso Country Club in California.

Monty, who turned 52 on Tuesday, has already retained his US Senior PGA Championship title this season. Before that he contested the Regions Traditions, another major on the over-50s circuit, before playing in the Senior Players' Championship as well as last week's US Open at Chambers Bay.

Montgomerie, the eight-times European No 1, has remained on America's west coast for this week's major mission but the intrepid Scot will make the long journey back to the UK straight after to attempt to secure a place in the Open Championship through final qualifying at Woburn next Tuesday.

It's been a hectic spell for the Ryder Cup-winning captain and, having made the cut at Chambers Bay, Montgomerie knows he is in for a tough time again when he returns to the cut-and-thrust of the senior scene.

"It isn't easy when you are up against highly competitive guys like Mark O'Meara, Tom Lehman, Kenny Perry, Freddie Couples and Bernhard Langer, to name a few," he said. "When I do win I am having to play very close to the levels I was in the 1990s."