Scot tees things off with a slice of high drama
IT was almost tempting to launch an inquiry into events at the final qualifying competition for The Open, so perfectly had it set the scene.
Six years after he had last taken part, Colin Montgomerie’s return could not have been better timed. The Royal Troon member, whose father had once been secretary of the club, was able to take part in the event in the first year the television company that employs him had the rights to the live coverage.
The Open has never adopted US Masters-style ceremonial opening tee shots – but this allowed the R&A to go close, inviting Montgomerie to lead the way. Surely no coincidence, either, that he was to be accompanied by two quality players – Luke Donald and Marc Leishman – both of whom like to get on with things, as he does.
That was all that Sky and the R&A could possibly stage manage, however. From there on he was on his own but, for all that he admitted to having felt considerable nerves and having to dig into memories of playing opening ties in Ryder Cup matches to steady himself, Monty wasted no time getting into character.
An anxious look followed as his opening tee-shot headed slightly left of its intended route then, as he prepared to shift it from light rough, a sharp stare was directed at an official who failed to settled down quickly enough as he prepared to play before, after he had completed his approach shot to the green, the full Monty was turned upon an individual who had been noisily and obliviously unwrapping equipment at the top of an adjacent grandstand.
Little wonder the veteran was less than amused. His first attempt to remove the ball from the greenside bunker it had finished in failed, while he had to hit the second out sideways, ultimately taking as many shots as Donald and Leishman combined as they produced birdies while he double bogeyed. “For someone who has said, ‘I do not do drama’ my whole career, the first hole was definitely drama-filled,” he observed.
Montgomerie, though, wrote his own golfing scripts for years and knew what had to happen to avoid this becoming a tale of horror. Little more than 90 minutes later, then, he reached the turn, five birdies on his card and leading The Open. That he could not quite maintain that to the end mattered little, not least because, having given them both three shots of a start, he was to outscore both his much younger playing partners. Honour had been satisfied and as he spoke of his pride on behalf of friends, family and fellow club members as well as himself, he was in generous mood – even.
“Sometimes people are not quite ready for the opening shots,” he said of a moment which might once have resulted in a case of spontaneous combustion. “There was a guy at the top of the stand opening up all the Wi-Fi from some sort of carrier bag that was keeping it dry overnight and he was not quite aware of what was selfdeprecating directly below him – me. The best shot I hit, probably one of the best of my life, was the fourth shot out of the bunker on the first, away from the hole.
“It is amazing how that ball came out. No-one in the field would have got the first ball out of there. It was buried right in the face of the bunker. The second one fell into a footprint – and my footprint is deeper than most.”