GOLF: Monty shaken by new gadget

PRESUMABLY THE programme for the One 2 One British Masters was printed some time ago. In line with their television advertising, the sponsors asked some of the competitors with whom they would like to have a one to one. Ross McFarlane, whose father Roy played for Manchester United, chose Sir Matt Busby.

"I caddied for the great man once as a boy and was in awe of his attention to detail," explained McFarlane. "I'd like to ask him what his feelings were after losing so many in the Munich air disaster?" Of course, in light of recent events, what Sir Matt thinks of the recent takeover might be worth knowing.

Meanwhile, Colin Montgomerie plumped for James Bond. "Although only fictional," revealed Monty, "he is a role model for anyone who aspires to travelling the world in fast cars and planes... I'd ask him how he manages to keep so cool in such ridiculously dangerous situations."

Montgomerie could put the answer to practical use. His hot-headed style was on display again up the mountain in Switzerland last Sunday when he doubled bogeyed the 18th for the second successive day. "To do it the first day was bad enough, but to repeat it, there aren't words to describe that," he admitted.

After missing two successive cuts prior to last week, Montgomerie now feels he is coming out of his "little spell" as the race for the money list title with Lee Westwood and Darren Clarke hots up. He has completed the 2,000 practice shots his coach Bill Ferguson said it would take to recover his fade and he is putting in his hotel room with a device `Q' might have developed for Bond.

The `laser aimer' was, in fact, developed by Dave Pelz, a putting specialist. The device showed Montgomerie was three inches out of alignment, which surprised the Scot but is not too bad considering of the 1,500 professionals Pelz has tested only Lee Janzen, twice a US Open champion, and Howard Twitty, an American journeyman, aimed dead on.