Monty pulls out of BMW Open
Colin Montgomerie has pulled out of the BMW International Open in Munich to rest his injured back.
The 39-year-old Scot decided to give the event a miss after consulting a specialist over the weekend about the back problems which have plagued him for most of the season.
Montgomerie’s manager Guy Kinnings told PA Sport at the weekend that the seven-time European number one would decide his schedule leading up to the Ryder Cup after seeing the specialist.
“He saw doctors in America the week before the USPGA and they confirmed he does not require surgery and it is not a serious injury, although it does cause him pain.”
Montgomerie had always planned to miss the European Masters in Switzerland the week after the BMW International Open, and then play in the German Masters and American Express Championships at Mount Juliet in the weeks immediately preceding the Ryder Cup at the Belfry.
European captain Sam Torrance has admitted he has already taken into consideration Montgomerie’s injury due to the gruelling schedule of matches against the Americans.
Without the injury, Montgomerie, a player Torrance has described as his ‘rock’, would have been certain to play in all five series of matches, a potential total of 90 holes in three days.
But Torrance acknowledged: “It might be a bit much for him to play in every series but I had already taken that into consideration. I might not push him.”
Montgomerie has been told to lose weight and exercise to try and improve the situation and spoke earlier this month of hopefully avoiding an operation at the end of the year.
“I’m not that healthy right now, every week is a bonus if I do play.
“It’s a day-by-day thing and I have to see about it at the end of the year.”
“I’m just playing as well as I can, it’s just very painful. I can’t play too many holes of golf, I have to be careful. I don’t play or practice as much, I just have to build up and peak for a tournament.”
Montgomerie scratched from the English Open at the Forest of Arden in June last year when the trouble first flared and then quit the Johnnie Walker Classic in Perth at the start of this season.
The problem returned with a vengeance at the Deutsche Bank-SAP Open in Germany in May and he produced a Herculean effort there to take Tiger Woods to a play-off before losing.
He was also runner-up in the Volvo PGA championship and fourth in the British Masters the following two weeks while receiving intensive treatment.
Luton’s Ian Poulter is the player on stand-by for the 10 automatic qualifiers in Europe’s side.
Meanwhile, former Open champion Greg Norman has also withdrawn from the BMW International Open and, like Montgomerie, the reason is back trouble.
