Troubled Monty fails to stop the rot

Once upon a time, not so long ago, Colin Montgomerie stalked the fairways of Europe as its undisputed golfing king and, for seven consecutive years from 1993 to 1999, topped the tour's Order of Merit.

Yesterday, in the TPC of Europe, he flopped to one of his worst finishes as a professional and was such a sorry sight that his playing partner Padraig Harrington remarked of him, "it's tough being Monty at the moment . . . I'd suggest Colin is half the man he was, his aura is not there."

Monty's on-course plight is a consequence of his life off the course, his 14-year marriage to wife Eimear officially ending earlier this month. Rather than be reclusive, the Scot decided that golf, for so long the focus of his life, could become his salvation; and he was hoping to use this week's tournament as a mechanism to earn a place in the field for the British Open at Royal Troon in July. He needed to earn sufficient prize money to move into one of the top-three places on the money list occupied by players not already exempt for the championship.

Instead, having failed miserably in that pursuit, Montgomerie - who had three double-bogeys on the back nine of his first round and opened with a double-bogey on the first hole of his second round to eventually sign for a 78, leaving him on nine-over par 153 - undertook the lonely drive on his own in his Lexus for a ferry ride that would have him back in London by nightfall.

The legacy of his appearance at the TPC of Europe is that his 72-hole total was the second worst aggregate he had ever accumulated on tour, the worst coming in the Benson and Hedges at St Mellion in 1991 when he shot a 17-over 161. His previous second worst total was the eight-over 152 he shot at the Smurfit European Open in 1998. And his finishing position of 128th was the second worst of his career, only surpassed by his 132nd place finish at the European Masters at Crans sur Sierre in the Swiss Alps in 1987 when he made his professional debut.

Now, Montgomerie is faced with the prospect of attempting to qualify for the British Open that takes place over his home course of Royal Troon on July 15th-18th. He has entered for the International Qualifying at Sunningdale on June 28th where there are 12 spots into the Open available, and the other possible routes include a mini-order of merit which runs from this week's TPC of Europe up to the European Open. Also, the top finishing non-exempt player at the European Open and the Scottish Open will also earn exemptions. So, all is not lost.

But Monty's current form doesn't inspire too much confidence, not even in the player himself. As Harrington, who played the first two rounds here with him, said: "Obviously, I feel for him. Golfwise he is distracted, and anyone who is not focusing is not going to play good golf. He just hasn't got his confidence and he plays great when he has got confidence. I am sure that will change over time and come back."

In a professional career that's into its 18th season, Montgomerie has accumulated over €20 million in prize money in winning 28 tournaments on the European Tour as well as a further nine on circuits around the world.

Yet, he has slipped down to 50th in the world rankings - and won't get into next month's US Open at Shinnecock Hills if he drops any further after next week's Volvo PGA at Wentworth - and his body language of the past two days was of someone going through the motions, as he played shots with remarkable speed.

"I have to go forward, but it is difficult right now," conceded Montgomerie. "It's just that this week I got some unlucky bounces, and some unlucky breaks, and one thing led to another. And it leads to not just missing the cut but easily missing the cut." He added: "I have had a lot of support and it's been very good. There is one thing about this tour and that is that the players, my peers out here, do respect me. That's one thing they do.

"In terms of my golf, it's a matter of getting into the thing and trying to achieve a positive start and trying to go for it. But it doesn't matter where it is and, though everyone might say, 'Monty looks forward going to Wentworth, great', it really doesn't matter where it is . . . it could be the Troon children's course to be honest.

"But we will try and again next week and that's all we can do."