Montgomerie backs his words with an opening 66

Colin Montgomerie, winner of five tournaments in Europe this year, with five other top-10 finishes, is threatening to add to one or other statistic after the first round of the Lancome Trophy, at St Nom La Breteche. The Scot had an opening 66, five-under-par, to lie second, two behind Alex Cejka and alongside Peter Senior and Jose Coceres.

Last week, after rather surprisingly not winning the British Masters at Woburn despite a three-stroke overnight lead, he wondered aloud as to "who will be on the leaderboard with me next week?" He now knows, and the confidence that enabled him to make that remark in the first place is still present. To some, the remark reeked of arrogance, but Montgomerie did a good job of explaining it yesterday. "It's just that I'm more comfortable on the leaderboard than off it," he said. "That's quite a statement I suppose and it's more than quite a few people out here can say.

"A lot of people, when they first get started, get nervous, and I used to be too. You start thinking about the money or about making a team and before you know it you've taken a double bogey and you're off the leaderboard anyway.

"I'm playing well," he added, "and hitting my irons the right distance. That's always a good idea." He is putting well, too, with only 26 yesterday, all of which led to five birdies and 13 pars.

Montgomerie is as good as anyone in the world at the moment, he is aware of that and aware, too, that as the senior statesman in the current Ryder Cup team he has a role outside that of just playing.

He has, in fact, already started boosting the confidence of some of the rookies and yesterday he spoke approvingly of one of the more surprising players ever to attain Ryder Cup status, Jean van de Velde.

The Frenchman is the first from his country to get into the team and yesterday attracted a bigger gallery than the group that contained Monty and Seve Ballesteros.

Furthermore, Van de Velde got round in 68, which filled Montgomerie with admiration. "It's not easy for him in front of a home crowd," he said, "but he's coping with the whole thing very, very well."

That was a reference, of course, to Van de Velde's dramatic collapse at the last hole of the Open Championship at Carnoustie. It was a sight which filled golfers everywhere with sadness and it has been the Frenchman's comportment in dealing with the whole affair that has won him admiration world-wide.

"If I'd done that," said Montgomerie frankly yesterday, "I think I'd have got very fit and taken up tennis. But the way Jean has played since - he hasn't missed a cut - has been admirable and I think he'll be an asset to the team."

Montgomerie attended a dinner last night hosted by the Ryder Cup captain, Mark James, intended to try and put the rookies at ease "and give them some confidence".

The Scot also spoke about his spat with Nick Faldo, who accused him earlier this week of playing in a comfort zone in Europe and of not having sufficient ambition.

"He said I liked receiving fat cheques, and he's dead right, I do," said Montgomerie. "But he knows how ambitious I am and I can't believe he meant to say that I wasn't sufficiently so."

Later Faldo phoned Montgomerie at his hotel in Versailles to explain that things had got lost in the translation and that he certainly meant no harm, either personally or in respect to the Ryder Cup. So that's all right, then.