Montgomerie defies injury with lowest score of the year

Had it been any other tournament but the Volvo PGA Championship, the flagship event of the European Tour, Colin Montgomerie would not have played yesterday. As it was he and his creaking back set out merely with the intention of "giving it a go" but did so to the extent of an eight-under-par 64.

It was the lowest score of the year for Montgomerie, who is seeking to win the title for the fourth time in five years. The West Course is one of his favourite tracks but he has never scored better here, except on an approximate basis in the World Match Play. This was his third 64 in the PGA.

The best the other 155 players could manage were the 67s of Andrew Coltart, Steen Tinning, Mark McNulty and Eduardo Romero. The 38-year-old Montgomerie has four prolapsed discs at the base of his spine but if he keeps this up he could dethrone the former West Indies batsman Gordon Greenidge as the most dangerous injured competitor in sport.

On Monday Monty took Tiger Woods to three extra holes in Germany despite not sleeping a wink the night before in case his back seized up completely. On Tuesday he visited his specialist in Fulham. The conversation went something like: "This will take two months to sort out." Reply: "We've got two days." Montgomerie arrived at the course two and a half hours before his tee time at 6am. "I have to warm up for two hours to get the blood flowing or else I just can't play," he said. After the round he went back to Fulham for more treatment followed by a massage when he got home.

"Everything has been planned so I can get around these four days," he said. "There is a lot of inflammation which we need to reduce. The massages help to keep the blood flowing. It needs rest but that's the one thing I can't do at the moment." The US Open in New York is only three weeks away. "I just have to go day by day at the moment."

In the long term Montgomerie will be spending ever more time exercising in his swimming pool. "I need a six-pack stomach. I'll need a few years; I'm starting from base zero. If you have strong stomach muscles, the back gets supported." To have three bogeys was understandable but he more than compensated with nine birdies and an eagle.

Conditions did not change much during the day, a strong breeze gusting through the trees. "That was as good a round of golf as my other 64s here," Montgomerie said. "I had an opportunity to score well and took it which could be important with the weather coming in tomorrow." The key to his improved play of late – his second place in Germany took him back up to 21st in the world – is due to the ever-increasing confidence in his new putting style. He is using the "belly" putter, where the top of the shaft is anchored in the stomach. In past years he won here because of his tee-to-green game rather than on the greens but yesterday putts flew in from all over the place.

Luck was on his side, too. At the par-five 12th he blocked his second shot so far right it almost went out of bounds on the other side of the 13th tee. But the lie was good and he pitched in for eagle from 35 yards. He had the decency to remove his visor and scratch his head in embarrassment.

The long game has had to compensate for the back. At the short fifth, usually a six-iron, he hit a five-iron to 10 feet, confirming his policy of taking an extra club. "I am not getting the power from my legs because I can't come through the ball properly. I have to play within myself but it is amazing how much more control I have." Montgomerie referred to the "Tiger Woods effect" of people wanting to hit the ball harder and harder. Yet Woods himself rarely swings at more than 75 per cent. Playing the 18th hole on Monday at St Leon Rot four times, Woods hit successive two-irons virtually into the same divot. "They flew through the same air space," Monty said, before admitting: "They were probably the most impressive four shots I have ever seen in golf."

EARLY LEADING FIRST ROUND SCORES (GB or Irl unless stated): 64 C Montgomerie. 67 A Coltart, M McNulty (Zim), S Tinning (Den), E Romero (Arg). 68 T Gillis (US), M Campbell (NZ), L Parsons (Aus), D Borrego (Sp), S Leaney (Aus), R Karlsson (Swe), A Oldcorn, J M Olazabal (Sp). 69 Ignacio Garrido (Sp), T Immelman (SA), A Scott (Aus), P O'Malley (Aus), J Sandelin (Swe), G Clark, M Foster, M Davis. 70 D Botes (SA), L Westwood, M Angel Martin (Sp), S Delagrange (Fr), C Gillies, G Brand Jnr, P Baker, A Cabrera (Arg), D Clarke. 71 D Greenwood, J Rivero (Sp), M Brier (Aut), S Lyle, B Lane, T Bjorn (Den), N Faldo, P McGinley, M Angel Jimenez (Sp), N Fasth (Swe), G Owen, P Sjoland (Swe), R Russell, D Lee, N O'Hern (Aus), J Moseley (Aus), P Golding, S Dyson, M Lundberg (Swe), S Gallacher, M Lafeber (Neth), S Bebb, Manuel P (Sp), B Dredge, R Jacquelin (Fr), R Green (Aus), F Jacobson (Swe), T Levet (Fr), P Fulke (Swe), R Goosen (SA), P Casey, S Torrance. 72 M Roe, N Price, J Spence, G Orr, R Wessels (SA), C Hanell (Swe), B Davis, H Bjornstad (Nor), D Fichardt (SA), J Bevan, P Price. 73 G Emerson, J Milkha Singh (Ind), I Ellis, M Wiggett, O Karlsson (Swe), J Berendt (Arg), G Havret (Fr), M James, S Webster, D Smyth, D Lynn, P Way, R Gonzalez (Arg), I Woosnam, P Lawrie 74 H Nystrom (Swe), I Poulter, I Stanley (Aus), J Haeggman (Swe), A Cejka (Ger), M Mackenzie, J Rose. 75 J Dwyer, N Manchip, M Nesbit, S Hansen (Den), I Garbutt. 76 A Wall, T Dier (Ger), S Dodd, G Lingard, C Rocca (It), P Harrington. 77 J Lomas, S Kjeldsen (Den), P Eales. 79 R Giles. 81 C Goodfellow. 83 A Atwal (Ind).