Colin Montgomerie misses Mississippi event due to injury

Colin Montgomerie will miss his first tournament in 30 years due to injury after tearing ankle ligaments. Picture: Jane Barlow

The eight-time European No 1 suffered the damage after missing the bottom step on stairs, forcing him out of this week’s Mississippi Gulf Resort Classic on the Champions Tour.

Montgomerie, pictured, revealed his misfortune on Twitter, posting a photograph of him with his left foot in a padded boot. “Stuck at home (with) ligament damage,” he wrote on the social media site. “Should have practiced triple Salchow before taking to the ice. Back soon.”

The three-time  Senior major winner is planning to make his return in the Insperity Invitational in Texas in  early May.

That comes right before the season’s first two majors – the Regions  Tradition and the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship.

Meanwhile, three amateurs were among 13 players to progress after the second round of the PGA EuroPro Tour Qualifying School stage one event at The Carrick on Loch Lomond was cancelled due to the weather.

It meant that Irishman Dermot McElroy, the overnight leader, claimed top spot in the battle to make next week’s 54-hole final at  Frilford Heath in Oxfordshire.

Craig Lawrie, Paul’s  oldest son, also made it, as did Alva’s Lawrence Allan and two fellow amateurs, Jake Scott and Kieran Waters.