Colin Montgomerie will celebrate a milestone 600th European Tour appearance at next week’s Turkish Airlines Open.

Monty, 51, had his first outing on the tour as an amateur at the Car Care Plan International in 1986 and went on to finish as the European Tour’s number one player on eight occasions.

Europe’s successful 2010 Ryder Cup captain has a total of 31 wins on the European Tour ahead of the tournament in Belek, Antalya, which starts on November 13.

The Scot has continued to have real success on the Senior Tour, where he has enjoyed four wins, including two majors, this year.

Colin Montgomerie will celebrate his 600th Tour event next week in Turkey

He admits the milestone of heading into his seventh century of appearances at the Turkish Airlines Open by the Ministry of Youth and Sports is all the sweeter as he will tee it up on the Montgomerie Maxx Royal course, which opened in 2008 after being designed by the man himself.

Monty said: “Of course I didn’t know what to expect for my career when I started out but if you had told me I would eventually play my 600th European Tour event on a course I had designed myself, I would have gladly taken that.

“It means so much to me that this event, at a course and resort I have huge and growing admiration for, is now playing such a pivotal role in the Race to Dubai.

“I enjoyed last year’s tournament a great deal and am once again looking forward to competing against a top-class field on a beautiful course.”

A top-quality 78-man field that includes Sergio Garcia, Henrik Stenson, Martin Kaymer and Lee Westwood will be battling for a prize fund of $7m.

The top 60 in the rankings after the second-ever Turkish Airlines Open will then move on to the United Arab Emirates for the DP World Tour Championship, the final event of the European Tour season.