COLIN Montgomerie said yesterday he has to stop making mental errors if he wants to end nearly two years without a win.
Second after an opening 67 at the Andalucian Open in Seville – his 500th European Tour event as a professional – Europe's Ryder Cup captain finished outside the top 30 after closing rounds of 75 and 74.
"I wasted dozens of shots this week and the
last time I played," stated Montgomerie, who has not had a top ten finish since the start of July last year. "It's not good enough. I just seem to be making mental mistakes that I never ever made, there are so many creeping in that weren't there before. To compete and win I've got to stop them. I'll have a think, come back and try again."
Having failed to qualify for The Masters – he is down at 137th in the world rankings – his next tournament is the Volvo China Open in three weeks.
Montgomerie is taking his family skiing before then, although he will not be taking to the slopes himself for fear of injuring himself. The shot which had him most annoyed during the event was an eight iron into a bunker at the end of his third round. "Just hopeless, terrible," commented the eight-time Order of Merit winner.
He ended the week with another gift, however. After a cake, an engraved ice bucket and some champagne came three bottles of wine bearing his nickname "Monty".
• Heavy rain in Orlando meant fourth-round play in the Arnold Palmer Invitational was delayed at Bay Hill yesterday – as crowds awaited the tussle between Tiger Woods and Sean O'Hair.
The first groups out did not tee off until shortly before 1pm local time, although tournament organisers had been expecting the deluge and had decided to send the golfers out in three-player groups for the final round and from the first and 10th tees.
Overnight leader O'Hair was due to begin his round on seven under par, five shots clear of world number one Woods and six ahead of former Masters champion Zach Johnson in the final group. First-round leader Jason Gore was also set to start the final round at one under alongside Japan's Ryuji Imada.
Ireland's Padraig Harrington and Sweden's Daniel Chopra were part of a seven-man group at one over par in a tie for 10th place. Masters champion Trevor Immelman of South Africa and England's Justin Rose both started at five over and each opened with birdies at the first and 10th holes respectively.
At the business end of the tournament, O'Hair was preparing to play the final round at Bay Hill with Woods for the second year in a row, having seen his hopes of victory disappear on the front nine in 2008 while the world number one sealed his fifth title in the event with a 25-foot birdie putt at the 18th.
Then O'Hair and the 14-time major winner had begun in a four-way tie for the lead but as Woods prepared for just his 10th competitive round since returning from reconstructive knee surgery, he had much ground to make up on the leader.
But he is back in the final group on the last day of a tournament for the first time since returning to the PGA Tour last month.
• Scotland's amateurs had to settle for 11th place in the European Nations Cup at the Royal Club of Sotogrande on Spain's Costa del Sol.
The defending champions closed with a nine-over 225 for a 17-over team total of 881 and finished a massive 41 shots behind England, who completed a wire-to-wire win with a 223 for 840. England won by four strokes from France and picked up the title for the first time since 2004.
Ireland, the European Team champions, finished fourth on 855 while Wales shared fifth on 866. In the individual event, Sam Hutsby completed a double success for England with a play-off win over Spain's Carlos Pigem after both players finished on 274s.
Caprington's Steven McEwan, the SGU No 1, was the top Scot in 20th on 290.
The full article contains 707 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
