Early start won’t suit Monty this time
Veteran will walk down the 18th fairway on the last day but not as he planned. By Graeme Macpherson
HITTING the first shot of the opening round of this Open Championship over his home course was a great honour for Colin Montgomerie.
Doing the same on the final round, however, might not offer the same cachet. Back on Monday, when he was in rather more effervescent and engaging form, Montgomerie stated his rather modest ambition for the week ahead was to “walk down the 18th fairway on Sunday”. He will fulfil that goal this afternoon, although perhaps not in the circumstances he would have hoped for.
Having squeezed under the cut after posting four over par for his opening two rounds, the veteran Scot endured a day to forget yesterday amid a blustery scene at Royal Troon. So regularly did a scowl cross his face his forehead was in danger of possessing more ripples than the adjacent Firth of Clyde. The previous bonhomie and charm – when he welcomed the world to the course where he first learned how to play the game – was little to be seen as he huffed and puffed around the links. Two birdies offered brief moments of relief on a card strewn with six bogeys and two doubles on his way to an eight-over-par 79. That took him to 12-over and dead last among those who had made the cut. It means he will be first out this morning for the final round – although, mercifully for the 53 year-old, a couple of hours later then his 6:35am call on opening day – and must also do so without a competitive playing partner.
With an odd number of players making the cut, Montgomerie – like Haydn Porteous yesterday – will be paired with a non-scoring marker, likely to be the Royal Troon club professional Kieron Stevenson. That should make for an interesting dynamic should Montgomerie’s run of scores continue in the same pattern, with each round four shots worse off than the one that preceded it. He may, however, take solace from the fact that Porteous skipped round quickly yesterday on his way to a three-under 68.
The early finish should at least guarantee Montgomerie more time to offer his considered punditry in Sky Sports’ custom-made studio high above the first green. At least he is back speaking to them. Requests for his thoughts on his third round were met with what is known in the trade as a custard pie to the face, Montgomerie evidently not of a mood to open up either to the written press or his broadcasting employers.
It was a similar story with Paul Lawrie, who chose Twitter as his preferred medium for reflecting on a second successive round of 74 that leaves him seven-over going into the closing day. “74+3 today, which is about where my game is at the moment, hitting it OK but holing very little, @RoyalTroonGC a joy to play, long game decent, putts will drop soon,” he offered to his 35,000-odd followers, a summary that suggested a man neither jumping for joy nor down in the dumps. A persistent foot problem has troubled the 1999 champion for some time now but he will look to see off his tournament with a low-scoring round in front of an always-appreciative and welcoming home crowd.
Unsurprisingly, it is Russell Knox leading the Scots charge – for what it is. The world No 26 – ranked more than 100 places higher than his next compatriot, Richie Ramsay – went into Moving Day on level par and looking to head into red numbers. Instead, what unfolded was further disappointment, a double-bogey six on the tricky 11th contributing to a score of 75, leaving him four over and down the board.
“I played alright but I didn’t putt well,” surmised the man from Inverness. “I missed three short putts so it was not a very good day. I just wasn’t able to get any momentum going and then the teeth of the course comes and I struggled for a few holes. There’s one more round and I’ll see what I can do.”
His forehead was in danger of possessing more ripples than the adjacent Firth of Clyde