Montgomerie claims first title of season

Colin Montgomerie produced a stunning eagle on the final hole to win the French Open title on Sunday and claim his first victory of the year.

Montgomerie, seven times European number one, has now won 23 tournaments on the European Tour and 28 in his career.

His eagle on the last hole in a final round of 68 finally enabled him to shake off his playing partner, fellow Briton Jonathan Lomas.

Montgomerie finished with a four-round total of 272, 16 under par and two shots ahead of Lomas.

It took all Montgomerie's guile and acumen to take the $181,000 first prize and reduce the huge advantage Darren Clarke has over him at the top of the European Order of Merit.

The 36-year-old Scot looked to have it all sewn up when his approach to nine inches for eagle on the long 14th gave him a three-shot advantage over Lomas but the Englishman, celebrating his 32nd birthday, would not be moved.

When Montgomerie went into water at the 15th and Lomas ran in a 20-foot birdie putt on 17 there was only a stroke between them.

Lomas hit the island 18th green but Montgomerie went even closer, unleashing a magnificent six-iron to just two feet for his eagle.

The Scot had fully justified adding an extra two tournaments to his schedule, the French Open and the Spanish Open the week before.

"I've got a lot of catching up to do but it's nice to come here and prove I can compete at the highest level again," said Montgomerie, who has moved up to fourth on the rankings.

However, he still trails Irishman Clarke by over $600,000.

"I really wanted this win and I probably put too much pressure on myself in Spain last week, put too much pressure on my putting," Montgomerie said.

"Before I went out for the final round, though, I discovered I was second in the putting statistics and that gave me a lot of confidence.

"That will give me a lot of confidence for the next few weeks as well, especially the U.S. Open.

"Jonathan asked me a lot of questions and I answered them, answered some of my own as well on whether I can take the pressure."

Montgomerie cited a putting competition which he won against friend and fellow touring professional Peter Mitchell on Thursday night and his wife's appearance in Paris 'to relax me' as two of the reasons for his first success of the season.

He got a telephone call from his regular caddy Alastair McLean, back from an Indonesian honeymoon.

Bernhard Langer's caddy Peter Coleman has filled in for McLean for the last two events, in which Montgomerie has finished fifth and first.

Lomas's 69 left him three shots clear of veteran Australian Rodger Davis, 49 in 11 days time, with another Australian, John Senden, Sweden's Fredrik Jacobson and South African Roger Wessels a further stroke back.

Sweden's Jarmo Sandelin was disqualified for using a bent putter on the ninth under a rule making any shot with a club that has changed its characteristic illegal.

Sandelin, who held a share of the lead after two rounds, damaged the putter when he bent it over his knee at the ninth.

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