Monty aims to bounce back in Scotland
Colin Montgomerie believes he is finally ready to add to his collection of 27 European Tour victories in the Scottish Open.
Montgomerie has suffered a poor season by his own high standards, missing five cuts in six events in America at the start of the year, including rounds of 78 and 76 in the US Masters, his second-worst display ever in 48 major championships.
The seven-time European number one also missed two cuts in a row in Europe for the first time in five years in June and currently lies 28th on the Order of Merit.
But the Scot was confident he had ironed out the flaws in his game and was ready to challenge for the £366,660 (€529,702 ) first prize and title he won in 1999 when the £2.2m (€3.2m) tournament got under way today.
Montgomerie has a good record at Loch Lomond, where apart from his victory four years ago, he has also finished third, fourth, seventh and 10th. His worst finish in seven appearances at the event was a tie for 28th in 2001.
“The first and last rounds last week were OK, two 68s, but the middle wasn’t very good,”
Montgomerie said: “I had chipping woes but my coach Denis Pugh came up on Tuesday and sorted that out for me so I’m actually full of confidence going into this week and next week as well.
“I still loathe practising but I have just had to do a little bit more recently because I haven’t really performed well this year.
“It has been disappointing in many ways, I’ve only had three top 10s, but it is coming back and over the last month there have been signs of improvement and that is why I can honestly say that I feel I can win now.
“I wouldn’t have said that a month or two months ago but now I feel it is coming back. I feel comfortable over the ball, I feel comfortable with my putting and I honestly feel I can win now.
“When you’re over the ball and don’t feel confident where it’s going to go, it’s not great. I was aiming down the left-hand side as I used to and it wasn’t always coming back and that was disappointing. Now I feel much more confident.
“I am anxious to get going this afternoon and see what happens.”
Montgomerie was playing alongside Jose Maria Olazabal and Phil Mickelson in the opening two rounds, the left-hander among a top-quality field assembled before next week’s Open championship.
Open champion Ernie Els is out to regain the title he won three years ago and in the process maintain his amazing record on the European Tour this year, with two victories, two second places and three other top-six finishes in his seven strokeplay events.
Former US Open champion Retief Goosen, former European number one Lee Westwood, Darren Clarke and last week’s winner Phillip Price are also among the contenders.
