Mellowed by his young family and immersed in his expanding businesses he may be but Colin Montgomerie yesterday served a timely reminder to his rivals that his inner fires still burn as fiercely as ever.

Driving to the Oxfordshire GC as dawn was breaking to complete his rain-delayed first round, the Scot covered the next 27 holes in 6-under par to propel himself into contention for the Benson and Hedges International Open that has eluded him.

So far he has missed only one fairway on a course which places a high premium on accuracy. The control and quality he demonstrated was all the more remarkable given his month's absence from competition.

''I don't feel I've changed a lot but I have a lovely family and I suppose that changes you slightly because responsibilities are different,'' Europe's No.1 admitted.

''I can relax on the course and the more relaxed I am the better I play. But I have tremendous drive and ambition and that will keep me going for a number of years yet - I can assure you.

''Winning drives me. The money has become more incidental than it was before. I would rather win one than have three runners-up spots and I don't mind if I'm 20-over as long as I beat everyone else.

''I've got to be happy with this start because I now have the chance to win this event.''

Montgomerie was paired with fellow Scot Andrew Coltart who himself has profited from putting a brake on his emotions and was able to scramble a par 72 then tack on a 69 while not at his very best.

His new philosophy earned praise from Montgomerie who would be delighted to have him as his partner in the Dunhill and World Cups later this year.

''Andrew has come on leaps and bounds in the last couple of seasons. He said his 72 this morning would have been a 76 before and he's dead right,'' he observed. ''Two years ago he would have missed the cut. It is fine to see someone battle through and have confidence in himself.''

Despite playing his worst golf of the past eight months, Coltart kept in contention with his superb short game.

''I am delighted with that

performance because it is so satisfying to score when playing so poorly. A year ago I would have been completely dejected.''

Englishman Barry Lane, whose last victory was in the Andersen World Consulting match-play event three years ago, took the early lead at 9-under par.

His second round 66, which included 9 birdies, was the best so far and he attributed the improvement to his touch returning on the greens.

Welshman Phillip Price moved into second place, a shot behind, after carding a 67.

Meanwhile, one of the fancied contenders, Swede Per-Ulrik Johansson, incurred a two-shot penalty after hitting a cart path on the fourth after taking relief from it, breaching rule 20-2 cv.

For the rookie of the year, Scott Henderson, there is some light at the end of the tunnel after missing seven cuts in nine events this season because of a swing change.

The Aberdeen-based player made a welcome return to form, adding a 71 to his opening 69 to make the weekend. His scoring would have been markedly better but for errors of judgement in clubbing caused by his quality striking.

Throughout his miserable start he never lost faith in his ability or contemplated reverting to the swing which earned him around #150,000 last year.

''I didn't play enough during the winter. When I did it was too windy and I developed a flat swing. It was necessary to get my hands into a higher position on the back swing because I was snap-hooking and never knew where the ball was going.

''Never once during the last two rounds have I even threatened to turn the ball over. But the ball is going further now and I made a few mistakes through over-clubbing.

''Everyone goes through bad spells. I was desperate to come out the blocks and build on what I'd achieved last season but hopefully the worst is now over.'' Scores:

135 - B Lane 69 66

136 - P Price 69 67.

137 - C Montgomerie 69 68, P Haugsrud (Norway) 69 68.

138 B May (USA) 71 67, G Evans 67 71.

139 - R Goosen (Russia) 71 68, P Sjoland (Sweden) 67 72, J Spence 70 69, P Baker 73 66, GJ Turner (New Zealand) 72 67.

140 - S Cage 69 71, P Lawrie 67 73, M Mouland 70 70, S Henderson 69 71.

141 - D Edlund (Sweden) 74 67, S Struver (Germany) 70 71, P Affleck 68 73, A Coltart 72 69, S Bennett 73 68, S Kjeldsen (Denmark) 70 71.

142 - P Harrington 70 72, C Suneson (Spain) 69 73, D Howell 71 71, T Bjorn (Denmark) 68 74, P Curry 69 73, J Payne 73 69.

143 - F Tarnaud (France) 71 72, C Mason 73 70, D Smyth 69 74, C Watts 69 74.

144 - G Chalmers 71 73, M Tunnicliff 71 73, C Van Der Velde (Netherlands) 70 74, A Hunter 72 72, T Gogele (Germany) 73 71.

145 - S Ballesteros (Spain) 71 74, S Field 71 74, M Farry (France) 72 73, S Webster 74 71.

146 - J Singh (India) 75 71, A Oldcorn 76 70, K Eriksson (Sweden) 71 75, P Sefton 72 74, S Torrance 74 72, H Clark 71 75, M Reale (Italy) 73 73, S Tinning (Denmark) 74 72.

Others included:

147 - R Rafferty 73 74, D Parris 72 75.

148 - G Hughes 76 72, J Robson 76 72, A Sandywell 76 72, R Drummond 73 75, M Roe 75 73.

149 - D Thomson 75 74, P Broadhurst 75 74, (x) J Little 76 73, G Stubbington 76 73, R Burns 74 75, D Cooper 73 76.

150 - M Mackenzie 75 75.

153 - M Davis 76 77, A Clapp 76 77.

154 - J Hawksworth 75 79

155 - D Tapping 74 81, P Golding 75 80.

156 - L Stanford 78 78.