Montgomerie, an eight-time winner of the European order of merit, predicted a “massive geographical switch” with Asian players adding to their solitary Major so far, won by YE Yang in 2009.

“We have four Major championships a year, so that’s 40 Majors in the next 10 years,” he said in a taped message to the Asia Pacific Golf Summit in Brunei, according to a press release from organisers yesterday. “In that period, I’d expect six or seven of those championships to be won by Asian players, if not more.