Monty lost in the mayhem

The 131st Open: Course record a distant memory as former leading European is beaten back

Colin Montgomerie, who competes with Phil Mickelson for the most undesirable cliché in golf – the best player never to have won a major championship – was given the best possible send-off in the third round of the Open yesterday when he left the first tee. Cries of "go on Monty'' encouraged the Scot as the clans gathered in anticipation of a home run.

Had they swung a bottle of Bollinger over his bows, it could have been the scene at the launch of a luxury liner. However, at the time neither the onlookers nor Montgomerie appreciated just how much of a titanic struggle lay ahead.

The weather turned from almost pleasant to downright ridiculous in the space of 10 minutes. The heavens opened and the leaders, who went out last, found themselves battling for survival.

Montgomerie's sun visor was no protection as he was blown away with an 84. At least there was a symmetry to the madness; rounds of 74, 64, 84. Today, if he can conjure a round of 54, he is in with a chance. Yesterday, the wind picked up, the temperature plummeted and the rain came down in torrents. Many spectators, particularly those not attired like frogmen, left in search of warmer surroundings.

The golfers had to grin and bear it, or at least bear it. It was once said of Montgomerie that he had a face "like a bulldog licking piss off a nettle", an unkind but accurate description of an expression sometimes witnessed after he had missed a putt. He was frequently wearing just such a look yesterday, but then it was a suitable response.

Monty advanced from three over par to four under after his course-record second round, prompting him to say: "I know I can win. I have never been frightened of winning ever, and I have never been frightened of winning here. I want to keep the momentum going."

And Montgomerie, paired with Nick Price, began his third round resolutely enough, despite the fact that he could not hit a fairway. He salvaged pars at the opening three holes and, given the appalling conditions, that was some achievement.

At the second hole, he found one of Muirfield's 148 bunkers but hit a clean shot out to the fringe of the green and secured his four. However, it all began to go wrong from the fourth, a par-three of 213 yards which was now playing as one of the most difficult short holes in championship golf. After missing the green with his tee shot, Montgomerie chipped to within five feet of the flag but missed the putt.

An even worse result followed on the fifth, the par-five on which he had already experienced agony and ecstasy. He had a six there during the first round and an eagle three in the second.

Yesterday, he recorded another six. Playing out of the rough, he almost shanked the ball right across the fairway after appearing to lose control of the club. In the heavy rain he and others were losing their grip. For his fourth shot at the fifth he had to play a driver off the fairway and faced a 40ft putt to save par. He put it 10 feet past.

He dropped another shot at the sixth and a double-bogey six at the eighth sent him from the comfort of red figures for below par to the sea of blue signifying scores above par. Montgomerie went to the turn in 41, but the homeward nine were even more uncomfortable, more bogeys and double-bogeys resulting in an additional 43 strokes. At the end, he had nothing to say, making a furtive departure from the recorders' hut to the Greywalls Hotel, where he is staying.

As collapses go, this one entered the history books. Only a golfer named RG French had experienced such a dramatic swing in the Open, scoring 71 in the second round, 91 in the third. And that was in 1938 when the balls were made of feathers and the clubs of hickory. There was no Bollinger for Monty yesterday. No bottle.

Price, meanwhile, who regards Muirfield as one of his favourite courses, went out in 36, level par for the day.

Although the Zimbabwean dropped shots at the third, the fifth and the sixth he recovered with a birdie at the eighth and an eagle at the par-five ninth. At that point Price was the joint leader at four under par for the championship and the list of players under par was getting smaller by the minute.

As for Mickelson, he shot 76 to stand at seven over par for the tournament. However, in one regard he was fortunate – he went out in the morning before the weather turned ugly.