HOYLAKE, England — Colin Montgomerie rolled his eyes and tried to conceal that devilish smile.

So, is he still trying to get over the U.S. Open?

"No, no affects at all," he replied. "It didn't affect me at all."

No one was buying it. Not even Monty.

"That U.S. Open was a shame," he quickly added, not even needing a follow-up question to deliver the grim punch line to a painful stab at self-deprecation.

While Phil Mickelson will likely go down in golf history as the guy who blew it at Winged Foot — the "I am such an idiot" post-mortem all but assured it — Montgomerie should probably be kicking himself more than Lefty.

Mickelson made a mess of the 72nd hole right from the start, pushing his drive far left on the way to a double bogey that handed the title to a grateful Geoff Ogilvy. While devastated by his collapse, at least Mickelson could soothe his wounds with three major championships.

Monty doesn't have that sort of comfort zone. He's never won a major — and he may never get a better chance to wash away the stain on an admirable career.

After knocking his tee shot to a perfect spot in the 18th fairway, Montgomerie overanalyzed his club selection for the approach to the green, didn't get the extra boost of adrenaline he was counting on and wound up short — in a virtually unplayable patch of thick rough.

Instead of a two-putt for par, he wound up with a double-bogey 6. Instead of grasping a major title for the first time, he trudged away with perhaps the most painful loss of a career filled with close calls in the biggest events.

But Montgomerie bounced back with a strong performance at last week's Scottish Open warmup, and he arrived at Royal Liverpool with high hopes of making another run at the career-defining championship that has eluded him so far.

"I try and take the positives from most things," he said. "If I took the negatives from everything, I wouldn't be here, believe me. I have to take the positives from anything that happens and there's always a positive in most things, however bad a day that might be."

And what was positive about Winged Foot?

"Flying home from New York on Sunday night," Montgomerie recalled, "I had to think, 'Well, that was OK.' I came into this event 21st or 22nd in the world and came within a whisker of winning. So I can't complain about that. That's OK."

If he's truly recovered from the U.S. Open, the 43-year-old Scotsman should be one of the favorites at Royal Liverpool. He certainly knows how to make his way around a links course. And a pair of recent runner-up finishes in the majors — Monty was second to Tiger Woods at last year's British Open — have shown he's fully recovered from a painful divorce and an extended slump.

"I'm confident," Montgomerie said. "I'm playing well. I'm confident where the ball is going. Knowing where the ball is going is half the battle."