Golf: Missed putts leave Montgomerie struggling

NO ONE conveys dejection quite like Colin Montgomerie. The glories of sunrise on another beautiful southern morning were no contest for the Scot's depression. Twelve hours after being forced to abandon his first round in the BellSouth Classic with two holes to play as dusk fell on Thursday evening, Montgomerie finished par, bogey yesterday for a level- par 72.

Before setting off on his second round, Europe's No 1 was already in 68th place, nine behind leader Duffy Waldorf, his ambitions limited to avoiding a first missed cut of the season. The prospects of him doing so declined when he went to the turn in one over with one birdie but two bogeys.

In 17 rounds this year, Montgomerie has broken 70 just once. By comparison, David Duval's average score is 68.28. "It's the same old story, I'm afraid," Monty said. "I haven't holed a putt over four feet."

Few of Thursday afternoon's starters, whose tee times were pushed back by the morning's fog delay, climbed on to a leaderboard headed by Waldorf's early 63. Montgomerie is far more at home on courses where par is a valued score, and yet this tournament has a field he should be able to dominate, as he does in Europe, with Duval and Davis Love the only other world top- 10 players present.

Starting at the 10th, the Scot hit his tee shot to four feet at the short 16th and holed that before getting up and down for another birdie at the par-five 18th. But Montgomerie has always found birdies cost more in dollars than pounds, or even euros. As darkness began to fall, his first missed green of the round produced a bogey when he chipped to three feet but missed the putt.

Coming back to play the eighth and ninth over Greg Norman's TPC course at Sugarloaf at 7am is no one's idea of fun. The eighth is a long-distance par-three of 248 yards and the ninth is a 465 yards par-four with a highly demanding tee shot.

The two holes illustrated Montgomerie's typical Stateside experience. At the eighth he was the only member of his group to make the green. Len Mattiace found a ditch on the right, took two more to make the green but holed a good bogey putt. Pin high but 25 feet from the hole, Monty two-putted for par.

At the ninth, his drive was the only one to find the fairway; Mattiace was up a bank on the left, Rick Fehr just off on the same side. Both were 40 yards behind the Scot but ran their second shots up just short of the green and chipped and putted for par. Monty missed the green on the left, elected to putt from three yards off, left it six feet short and missed that.

All three played the two holes in one over, but the evidence pointed to a further crumbling of Montgomerie's avowed belief that the tee shot is the most important shot in golf. As he said last week: "I am beginning to learn that it is the last one that is most important."

While Nick Faldo and Ian Woosnam were due to tee off in the afternoon after showing signs of improvement in time for the Masters with rounds of 69 and 70 respectively, Miguel Angel Jimenez produced an impressive front nine of 32 to move to three under.

Jimenez was so overjoyed at receiving an invitation to the US Masters last month he went out and bought a new Ferrari, scored a 62 and later went on to win his home town tournament in Malaga, the Turespana Masters.

Now the 35-year-old, who was non-playing vice-captain at the last Ryder Cup and is in line to make his debut in the match later this year, is keen to improve on his only previous showing at Augusta, where he missed the cut four years ago.

Given the form of his countrymen, he may end up the leading Spaniard ahead of two former champions. Seve Ballesteros is not playing here this week, but Jose Maria Olazabal was three over after 27 holes, in which time he had suffered three double bogeys.

Waldorf has won just once on the American Tour in the 1995 Texas Open and currently does not have an invitation to the Masters. His last chance would be a victory here.