Deutsche Bank Open
Perfectionist Colin Montgomerie blamed his putting again for failing to lead the field at the Deutsche Bank SAP Open in Hamburg yesterday.
The Scot, brilliant winner of the Volvo PGA Championship at Wentworth on Monday, finished his first round on 67, five under par.
It left him two shots behind Irish leader Paul McGinley and one behind Londoner Peter Mitchell.
But Montgomerie moaned as he came off the final green: ''I could have been an awful lot better. I left five putts bang in the middle of the hole. Very poor indeed.
''I didn't miss a fairway and I didn't miss a green and I'm only five under. I left the putts in the middle at the seventh, eighth, ninth, seventeenth and eighteenth, all right in the middle. It should have been very, very good.''
Montgomerie had looked as if he would race away from the field after having four birdies in his first six holes. But despite his immaculate golf from tee to green he had only one more birdie, at the par-5 fifteenth .
McGinley is still some way from Montgomerie's class but the 31-year-old Irishman is determined to raise his game to another level.
After finishing with a near flawless, seven-birdie 65, McGinley insisted that although he was not exempt for the US Open next month he was almost certain to try and play his way in through the pre-qualifying round.
''I'm going to decide on Monday evening whether to go to the US Open,'' he said.
''If I go I will miss two tournaments here, the English Open and Slaley Hall, so it's a big gamble for me.
''I'm not even exempt for the Open Championship unless I win here this week, but I know if I want to be the player I want to be I have got to play in all the big tournaments so that is why the US Open is on my agenda.
''I've booked my flight and my hotel for the US Open qualifying in New Jersey on Tuesday week but it could jeopardise my position to get into the Open.
''If I could get exempt for Birkdale it would take a big weight off my shoulders.
''There are about 20 to 25 spots from a field of 120 at the US pre-qualifying. But I won't make a final decision until after this tournament.''
Yesterday McGinley had five birdies in a brilliant outward half of 31 and then two more coming home without a bogey on his card.
Mitchell, who pulled a neck muscle with what he described as a 'a double whammy sneeze' while practising at Wentworth last week, shot 66 and says he is nearly fit again.
He had eight birdies on his card and two bogeys and would have tied with McGinley for the lead had he not dropped a shot at the final hole where he first missed the green and then a five- foot putt.
Behind McGinley and Mitchell came a host of stars. Apart from Montgomerie, Ulsterman Darren Clarke, American Mark O'Meara, Germany's Bernhard Langer and England's Mark James were among 14 players who shot 67. And not too far back were more big guns in the shape of Lee Westwood, Ian Woosnam, Jose Maria Olazabal and Thomas Bjorn, all on 69, while former Open champion Nick Price is on 70.
But, with more than half the 156-strong field breaking par, Seve Ballesteros, who shot a level par 72, is in danger of missing the cut. It would be a severe blow to the morale of the Ryder Cup captain after what appeared to be a return to form at Wentworth.
Leaderboard
(British and Irish unless stated)
65 - P McGinley.
66 - P Mitchell.
67 - J Spence, S Allan (Australia), M O'Meara (USA), G Chalmers (Australia), E Canonica (Italy), D Edlund (Sweden), B Langer (Germany), M Gronberg (Sweden), B May (USA), M James, C Montgomerie, D Clarke, P O'Malley (Australia), J Van de Velde (France).
68 - R Goosen (S Africa), P Broadhurst, P Lawrie, M Roe, P Eales, S Torrance, A Cejka (Germany), A Coltart, R Wessels (S Africa), K Tomori (Japan), P Quirici (Switzerland).
69 - T Bjorn (Denmark), D Borrego (Spain), J Rivero (Spain), J Singh (India), P Walton, P Harrington, P Senior (Australia), D Howell, E Simsek (Germany), L Westwood, I Woosnam, J-M Olazabal (Spain), M-A Jimenez (Spain), B Davis, J Sandelin (Sweden), J Haeggman (Sweden), R Russell.
70 - H Thul (Germany), M Davis, S Henderson, J Coceres (Argentina), N Fasth (Sweden), W Westner (S Africa), A Oldcorn, D Gilford, C Rocca (Italy), R Jacquelin (France), P Price, S Alker (New Zealand), D Carter, A Hunter, J Payne, K Eriksson (Sweden), M Tunnicliff, N Price (Zim-babwe), P-U Johansson (Sweden), R Burns, J Robson, I Garbutt, T Gogele (Germany), M Mouland, M Hallberg (Sweden), R Rafferty.
71 - P Marksaeng (Thailand), C Monk (Germany), B Lane, R Davis (Australia), M Mackenzie, D Tapping, A Wall, R Claydon, I Pyman, R Boxall, P Haugsrud (Norway), R Chapman, P Baker, K Brink (Sweden), B Dredge, G Orr, T Levet (France), N Joakimides (France).
72 - W Riley (Australia), Y Kaya (Turkey), D Hospital (Spain), S Struver (Germany), A Forsbrand (Sweden), S Ballesteros (Spain), P Sjoland (Sweden), J Townsend (USA), S Luna (Spain), A Cab-rera (Argen-tina), S Webster, M Farry (France), G Brand Jr, P Fulke (Sweden), D Chopra (Sweden), S Kjeldsen (Denmark), E Darcy, D Cooper.
73 - F Jacobson (Sweden), C Hainline (USA), T Hennig (Germany), V Phillips, M Reale (Italy), D Smyth, P Lonard (Australia), S Richardson, S Cage, N Vanhootegem (Belgium), G Evans, C Watts, F Tarnaud (France), P Hedblom (Sweden), M Jonzon (Sweden), D Robertson, M Long (New Zealand), C Suneson (Spain).
74 - A Sherborne, M McNulty (Zimbabwe), R Allenby (Australia), J Lomas, G Turner (New Zealand), K Storgaard (Denmark), R McFarlane, G Owen, S Field, A Kankkonen (Finland), P Affleck.
75 - M Amort (Germany), I Garrido (Spain), S Tinning (Denmark), R Green (Austraia), C Whitelaw (S Africa), S Leaney (Australia), T Johnstone (Zimbabwe), M Florioli (Italy), R Geilenberg (Germany), J Remesy (France).
76 - D Lynn, O Karlsson (Sweden), P Drewes (Germany), S Dunlap (USA), L Jahn (Germany), T Gillis (USA).
77 - M Newell (Germany), S Grappasonni (Italy), R Coles, M Gates.
78 - L Spencer.
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