Montgomerie joins leaders after day of positive thinking

With space-age equipment propelling the smart ball further and further, Greg Norman can see the day when courses will measure 8,000 yards. Colin Montgomerie, echoing one of golf's clichés, believes the game is measured in the inches between a person's ears.

"It's 100 per-cent mental,'' Monty said yesterday after a 69 put him on the leader board following the first round of the Smurfit European Open at the K Club. He proceeded to reveal how the power of negative thinking cost him the Open at Royal Lytham 12 months ago. He missed a short putt for a birdie at the 18th hole in the second round. He was still at the top of the leader board at the half-way stage but at a stroke had ruled himself out.

"I span a wedge back to about five or six feet from the flag and missed it and that was a very very vital putt for me. I was leading with two rounds to go but I know my game, know how I feel and know what is going on and I knew I wasn't going to win. That was a key putt to go two in front and although I remained one ahead I didn't have the confidence going into the third day. I knew my putting was going and it went on the 36th hole at Lytham.

"It wasn't just the putt. It was where it missed. It was a right to left putt, a very easy putt and it missed short left. If it had missed high right I would have been much more confident. I realised then I wasn't going to win the Open. I never told you lot but I knew. I learnt from Lytham that I am not going to win if I can't hole putts. At any open, at any major, no winner has made a speech and said they putted badly. Nobody ever has and nobody ever will.''

And nobody has ever led the Open after 36 holes and gone to bed without a prayer. Since switching to a longer putter, the handle of which nestles against his stomach, Montgomerie was astonished to find he is the second best putter in the tour statistics. "When I was winning the order of merit I was never in the top 40 [for putting],'' he said, "But I was always in the top 10 for driving accuracy. Now I'm 79th in driving. It's swings and roundabouts.''

Norman, who has not won since January 1998, is alongside Montgomerie on three under, a couple of strokes behind Darren Fichardt of South Africa and Jarrod Moseley of Australia.

On the par three eighth, which measures 173 yards, Norman hit an eight iron off the tee. In the old days it would have been a six iron. "When I first came to Europe,'' he said, "I'd hit a two iron 210 yards. Now I hit a five iron the same distance. The more we played St Andrews the better the course became but then technology took over. Tiger flew every bunker on the course so everything was out of play for him. Technology has taken St Andrews out of the rota as far as I'm concerned which is a shame because it's one of the great golf courses of all time.''

As for Monty, he came home in 33 with four birdies and the longest putt he made was from five feet. "I have two or three hundred putters at home,'' he said. "We are all mad.''

SMURFIT EUROPEAN OPEN (K Club, Straffan, Co Kildare) Leading first-round scores (GB or Irl unless stated): 67 D Fichardt (SA), J Moseley (Aus). 68 J Berendt (Arg), M Campbell (NZ), J Haeggman (Swe). 69 S Delagrange (Fr), G Norman (Aus), N Fasth (Swe), C Montgomerie, B Lane, J Dwyer, C Gane. 70 S Tinning (Den), M McNulty (Zim), M Mouland, S Struver (Ger), R Karlsson (Swe), L Parsons (Aus), P Lawrie, H Nystrom (Swe), J Donaldson.