Montgomerie and Funk leave their feuding in the past

Tiger Woods could not make it again this year for the Cisco World Match Play Championship as the US tournament this week is at Disney, just down the road from his home. Phil Mickelson passed on the invitation as well. David Duval is another absentee, but says he would love to come next year. The lone American competitor here this week is Fred Funk.

In past years this event liked to include a young American who was not that well known on this side of the Atlantic. At 46, Funk does not quite fall into that category, but his fourth place finish in the USPGA Championship suggested that he is a bit of a late developer.

He certainly enjoyed his time in the limelight and went on to finish second in the NEC World Invitational a week later. Today Funk plays Colin Montgomerie in the first round, with the winner to face Ernie Els. A few years ago this might have amounted to a grudge match.

Prior to the 1997 Ryder Cup at Valderrama, Montgomerie made some comments about some of the American team that, with a little spin and wide distribution, did not go down well in the States. Among the comments, Monty suggested that a recent divorce for Brad Faxon was not the best preparation for the match.

The affair escalated and rumbled on for a few weeks, by which time Funk got to air the opinion that he thought Montgomerie was "the jerk of all the world". According to the Scot it has all been forgotten. "That's all gone. He was very apologetic," Monty said. Funk invited him round to tea at his home in Ponte Vedra Beach during the Players' Championship, although Monty has yet to take up the invitation.

"We get on very well," Montgomerie added. "He is a great chap and very bubbly. He is very excited to be here. Not many people know much about him over here, but he is very straight and a good putter and that is always a dangerous combination in matchplay."

The young up-and-comer in the field is the 22-year-old Justin Rose, who needs no introduction after a season in which he has won four times and played well in the Open and the USPGA. Rose, who used to be a spectator of the event in his teens, plays the former champion Vijay Singh in what might be the match of the day.

"Those kids behind the 18th green shouting for balls from the players, I was one of them," Rose said. "It is going to be a tough match against Vijay." The first-round losers will collect £50,000, but it will be no consolation to Rose should he go out. "Although the last place cheque is some consolation, if you go out, your pride wouldn't be intact. If you get a whipping, you are going to go home upset."

The defending champion Ian Woosnam, one of the four seeds to receive a bye into the second round tomorrow, awaits the winner of Nick Faldo against Michael Campbell. The Welshman had no preference to which it might be. "It doesn't matter," he said. "Nick's playing well. Michael's playing well. It won't be as fast playing Nick as it would be against Michael." Should he be facing Faldo, Woosnam doubted the conversation would get round to the Ryder Cup captaincy for 2004, for which the Welshman has applied, with Faldo ruling himself out.

Although Faldo might not be the captain until he is into his 50s, Rose did not think that would be a problem. "The players will always respect him," Rose said. "The age gap won't matter. I respect him for not taking it now and wanting to make the team again as a player. He still has a lot of self belief."

TODAY'S MATCHES

9.00 & 13.15: M Campbell (NZ, 8) v N Faldo (GB). Winner to play I Woosnam (GB, 1).

9.15 & 13.30: P Harrington (Irl, 5) v M Weir (Can). Winner to play S Garcia (Sp, 4).

9.30 & 13.45: V Singh (Fiji, 6) v J Rose (GB). Winner to play R Goosen (SA, 3).

9.45 & 14.00: C Montgomerie (GB, 7) v F Funk (US). Winner to play E Els (SA, 2).

seeds denoted by number