Exclusive: Ryder Cup captain Colin Montgomerie reveals how wife inspired support for new Scots cancer centre

By Annie Brown, Daily Record.

GOLF ace Colin Montgomerie has told how his wife Gaynor was the spark behind his plan to help build a support centre for cancer sufferers.

Gaynor was widowed at the age of 36 after her husband, furniture magnate George Knowles, died of a heart attack on his yacht.

She was heartbroken, but with four young children she had no choice but to soldier on.

Colin said: "George's death hit the family very hard. They were very, very close. The children found that one day their father never came home.

"It has touched me to see how wonderful they are and how brave they have been.

"Gaynor lived for her children. That's why she ate, that's why she exercised and did everything, because she had a purpose.

"But Gaynor has lived beyond her loss and this centre will be about life beyond cancer."

Colin credits Gaynor with bringing perspective to his life. Recently, when he stormed in from the course, declaring his performance a "disaster", Gaynor, 41, told him: "Four children left without a father - that's a disaster. A bad game of golf isn't."

Colin decided that he wanted to build a support centre as a lasting legacy to his mum Elizabeth, who died of lung cancer in 1991.

He said: "Meeting Gaynor and hearing her story has moved this project forward, accelerated it towards becoming a reality."

The Elizabeth Montgomerie Foundation have formed a partnership with Maggie's Cancer Caring Centres to build a new centre in Lanarkshire.

The Elizabeth Montgomerie Building will be based at Monklands Hospital in Airdrie and will provide advice and emotional support to cancer sufferers and their families.

As he sits in the calm of Maggie's cancer centre in Dundee, the newly appointed Ryder Cup captain is a man at ease, content with his lot.

He realises that the sun doesn't rise and set with the final putt.

He said: "I am more relaxed now, since Gaynor. There's no question about that. I can walk into this centre, to sit down and have a cup of coffee, relax and be with others.

"Before, I don't think I could have. I would have been thinking about the next shot or the next tournament and that's not good for your own state of mind."

Maggie's centres are bright buildings where cancer patients and their families can get coffee, counselling, benefits advice - anything to stop their world imploding.

Colin remembers the sense of helplessness he shared with his dad James when Elizabeth was diagnosed.

He said: "Somewhere like Maggie's would have been good for mum and dad - a place to talk to others.

"I think it would have been good for mum emotionally.

"There is a time when the fight does lessen but this is a real place of strength."

Colin adored his mother for always being there, for her easy temperament and for gestures such as when she travelled to Spain when he was just breaking through in golf and cooked for him and his caddy.

Most of all, Colin wants a tangible memorial of bricks and mortar for his father to see.

During his visit to the Maggie's centre, Colin bumped into Colin Smith, 47, a caddy he knew from many tours.

The caddy has a brain tumour and has deteriorated since his diagnosis five years ago.

Maggie's provides his parents with respite and gives their son a place of calm.

Colin said: "Seeing him as he is now is moving. It reminds you that life can change overnight.

"Gaynor has a motto: Your health is your wealth. She is right."

Colin, 45, aims to raise £3million to help build the new centre.

He wants it to be a beautiful building, as lovingly crafted as the otherMaggie's centres.

Lanarkshire was chosen as the location because it is an area of deprivation and has some of the worst lung cancer rates in the world.

People living there are 50 per cent more likely to be diagnosed with lung cancer than those in the rest of the UK.

Gaynor will chair the charity as Colin will be busy with the Ryder Cup.

Colin is sorry that his mum wasn't at his wedding on the banks of Loch Lomond last year.

After suffering depression following his split from first wife Eimear in 2004, Monty wanted his lavish wedding to be about moving on.

He said: "It was a shame that she couldn't enjoy that party with us.

"The second marriage was more of a celebration for both of us to start again. Especially for Gaynor."

Colin said his dad was delighted with his son's choice of bride.

He added: "Gaynor and my dad get on very well. They really understand loss and above all, really understand each other."

There has been a dramatic shift in Colin's attitude to life.

He said: "Gaynor has changed me. She keeps me grounded. I get caught up in my own world. The sporting environment is very protected and sheltered to the outside world.

"I think it is important to see that this, here in Maggie's, is real life."

Last night, Gaynor said the new centre would be invaluable for providing support.

She added: "I had huge support from family and friends when I lost George. I don't know how I would have got through without that."

Gaynor said George's death changed her perspective on life - and she has done the same for Colin.

She added: "I enjoy every minute of the day. I can't waste time."

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