Rookie Scot makes his mark

World Cup: Philip Reidfollows Monty and partner as they move into the thick of the action.

On so many occasions in team competitions, but mainly in the white-knuckle ride that is the Ryder Cup, Colin Montgomerie has carried an unfair amount of weight on his shoulders. He's a player, though, who revels in such situations.

Still, it came as something of a pleasant surprise to the big Scot in yesterday's second round of the World Cup at Sandy Lane that his partner, Marc Warren, making his debut in the tournament, should assume so much of the burden in the foursomes, where a round of 67, bettered on the day only by Spain, enabled Scotland to move into the thick of the action on 134, eight-under, in a three-way tie with Sweden and Germany.

The basis of the Scotland's fine round came on the front nine, where they managed four birdies in five holes.

All of them were converted by Warren, and so pleased was Monty with his young compatriot that, walking down the ninth hole in tandem with his caddie Alistair McLean, he quipped, "Marc's lost the plot, let's hope it continues."

It didn't, at least not to the same extent, but nevertheless Scotland did succeed in moving through the field with the seamless effort of a hot knife in butter.

Warren, who was responsible for holing out for all six of the birdies Scotland mustered, had never previously played alongside Montgomerie in a team event. He became aware at the European Masters back in September he had qualified to play alongside the long-time kingpin of Scottish golf.

"I've been looking forward to this for months, just to get the opportunity to play with him and learn from him is great for me," he said.

In truth, Warren was the man with the magic wand on the greens in yesterday's foursomes, holing a series of 20-foot-plus putts on the front nine to give the two Scots an extra bounce in their steps. "Overall, it was a good solid round and being three back is nothing," said Warren.

Warren's streak on the greens started on the fourth, where he rolled in a 25-footer. He followed by sinking a 20-footer on the fifth and a 15-footer on the sixth, where Montgomerie played a superb approach despite their ball finishing just inches away from a line of bushes. On the eighth, Montgomerie again played a fine iron shot to 12 feet, which Warren converted.

The only blips for the Scotland pair came on the 10th and the 18th, where Montgomerie missed the green with his four-iron tee shot, but two birdies in between, at the 13th and 16th, compensated for those failings.

Montgomerie claimed he felt Scotland had a good chance to contend here in Barbados. Of Warren, he explained: "To win the Challenge Tour, that's very tough to do . . . and, then, coming out on tour and winning his first tournament against a Swede in Sweden, a Ryder Cup player in Sweden, was obviously proof that Marc can handle himself under that type of pressure.

"There's no surprise to me that we're doing well here. We just have to keep going."