300-1 Monty hoping lack of expectation will aid his cause

Published on Sunday 12 July 2009 23:01

ALREADY ranked a 300-1 outsider to win The Open by the bookmakers, Colin Montgomerie endorsed his standing as a Turnberry underdog in both word and deed when he returned 73 for 284, level par, at the Barclays Scottish Open. "I'm not expecting anything," he cautioned when the subject of the oldest major was raised, "so neither should you."

Without a top ten finish over the past year, Europe's Ryder Cup captain perhaps surprised himself by making the cut at Loch Lomond. Apart from an exhilarating run of birdies on Friday, however, there was little to sprinkle cheer on his performance.

In his heyday, Montgomerie was a master of marching forward on the last day of tournaments. Now, he's more likely to retreat. At his last seven events, Monty has signed off with scores of 80, 76, 75, 71, 76, 71 and 73 yesterday. In fact, you have to go back to the Johnnie Walker Classic in February to pinpoint the last tournament where he broke 70 on the final day.

"It was a poor round of golf again," he rued. "Nothing to be positive about at all, really. There were four mistakes and two birdies, so there was nothing good to report.

"I will go to Turnberry very late. Nothing else is working, so why not try that? I am 200th in the world and 80-odd in the Race To Dubai. I'm not expecting anything, so neither should you."

While the golfer's willingness to be self-critical was understandable, the truth is Monty has fond memories of the Ailsa. His late mother was a member there and he once met Peter German, a senior vice-president of IMG, for a job interview at Turnberry. Having graduated from university in Houston, Monty wanted to work for the world's biggest sports management company as a client manager.

After playing nine holes with the Scot, who carded 29 over Turnberry's back nine that day, German was just as convinced IMG should work for the 1987 Scottish Amateur champion rather than the other way around. It proved a mutually beneficial decision.

Although he has held three course records at The Open venues on the east coast of Scotland – Carnoustie, St Andrews and Muirfield – Monty's career performances in the oldest major since 1991 might best be described as patchy. He was runner-up over the Old Course five years ago and eighth on the Ailsa behind Nick Price in 1994. But there were also eight missed cuts and any number of displays over the past two decades which didn't reflect his past standing as Europe's best golfer.

The reasons for this were both physical and mental. On the technical side, Montgomerie is a feel player with a rhythmical swing. He's at his best on a links in a light breeze – hence the 63 on the Old Course and 64s at Carnoustie and Muirfield. In strong winds, however, the Scot was rarely a threat. Indeed, in 2002, when the storm arrived in Gullane 24 hours after that mesmerising round of seven under par, he ran up an equally improbable 84.

Montgomerie also found it difficult, as the leading British player, to cope with the intensity of the pressure which all but squeezed the life out of his game in the build-up to The Open. Now he's 46 and enduring some of the poorest results of his career, there's no burden of expectation on Montgomerie. It's a scenario, he conceded last week, may work to his advantage.

"I did quite well in the Irish Open, which was the week before Loch Lomond, and also during the Scottish Open," he recalled. "In fact, I spent the first seven years inside the top ten here. I also won the Irish Open three times. So, leading into The Open, there was a huge weight of expectation, especially when the championship was in Scotland. Now the expectation is not the same. I can go in somewhat under the radar and enjoy the week, if you like, enjoy playing on what we all feel is the best course in Britain."