Monty blames it on the boogie

FURIOUS Ryder Cup captain Colin Montgomerie made no secret of what he thought of some nearby music after a last-hole bogey 6 left him six shots off the lead in the Spanish Open here yesterday.

Even before handing in an opening 71, one-under-par, Montgomerie yelled at tournament director Miguel Vidaor after being told that the noise from the tented village had already been turned down once.

"Should never have happened in the first place," shouted the eight-time European No 1 before adding, with expletive deleted: "Is this a f****** party or a golf tournament?"

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Montgomerie had just three-putted the long ninth and, having bogeyed the 231-yard seventh as well, his hopes of ending more than 22 months without a top-ten finish had taken a real blow.

He received support from playing partner Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano. "I felt sorry for Monty," the Spaniard said. "The music was a bit much. He'd played really well."

It is not Montgomerie's first outburst over music. He once raged in Germany about a pianist he described as "Richard Clayderman" entertaining VIPs in a hospitality tent alongside the 18th.

In the circumstances, it came as no surprise that Montgomerie, famous for his temper, refused to talk to reporters after emerging from the scoring area.

It seemed rather appropriate that the clubhouse leader at that point was a former disc jockey, England's Paul Waring.

The 25-year-old, English amateur champion in 2005, had an eagle and six birdies on the Real Club course, but by bogeying the 432-yard last fell one behind Argentina's Ricardo Gonzalez.

The South American, who has happy memories of the venue after winning the 2004 Seville Open, closed with a birdie to set the pace with a 65. "In Spain I feel like home. I like the people, the food, the golf courses," said Gonzalez, who also captured the Madrid Open seven years ago. "I've come with all the batteries charged and I think I have a chance to have a good tournament."

The best of his eight birdies came at the 226-yard 17th, his eighth, where he struck "the best 3-iron I have hit in a long time" to within ten feet of the flag.

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Gonzalez is three shots clear of a group that includes Waring's compatriots Chris Wood and Chris Gane, Welshman Stephen Dodd and fellow countryman Rafa Echenique. Waring got off to a real flying start, grabbing birdies at the first three holes and then hitting a 4-iron to eight feet for an eagle on the fifth.

Waring, who has yet to have a top-five finish since gaining a Tour card at the 2007 qualifying school, was relieved to simply be playing in the tournament. Unable to get home from Dubai over a week ago because of the volcanic ash cloud, the Birkenhead golfer was originally given a new flight date of 1 May. "We managed to get out on Sunday night, though, and flew here yesterday," he said. "I'm really happy with that start."

South African Open champion Richie Ramsay is the leading Scot after he opened with a three-under-par 69, one better than David Drysdale.

Marc Warren and Scott Drummond are alongside Montgomerie on one-under, just in front of Steven O'Hara and Gary Orr, but Peter Whiteford (73), Paul Lawrie (74) and Alastair Forsyth (75) have their work cut out to make the cut, as do Stephen Gallacher and Andrew Coltart after 76s and Andrew McArthur after an 80.

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