Montgomerie makes it three in a row

Colin Montgomerie displays the PGA Trophy after claiming his third title in a row. Allsport

A purple patch of three birdies on three consecutive holes just when it was needed allowed Colin Montgomerie to pull away from challenger Andrew Coltart and win his third Volvo PGA title on the trot. And it was a day of threes - he won by three shots from Coltart, Darren Clarke and Lee Westwood after closing with a 69 for a 17-under total.

Things did not look good for Montgomerie when he bogeyed the seventh after a poor chip and a misread putt. At that point Coltart joined him at 13-under. But then the champ showed his true colours to birdie the very next hole after hitting a perfectly-judged iron to five feet.

And when 11, 12 and 13 all yielded birdies to the oft-maligned Montgomerie putter - from four, six and 12 feet respectively, Montgomerie knew that barring an outstanding finish from someone else, a solid finish would guarantee him yet another victory at Wentworth.

As it was, Coltart's birdie streak was drying out and he remained rooted at 13-under for most of the back nine. When the umpteenth storm brought a temporary halt in play, Montgomerie was four shots clear at 17-under from Coltart and Clarke, and only had 17 and 18 to play.

The hard work had been done in the first two rounds when he had opened with rounds of 67 and 65. He knew he didn't have to produce anything spectacular at the end and finished par, par to seal the win.

Montgomerie said: "This is our flagship event on the European tour and everyone wants to win it. When records are there to be broken it's to be able to do it. It's a great honour for me."

Lee Westwood continued the good form he had unearthed to win in Hamburg last week and had a closing birdie for a 69. He said: "I'm delighted with second place. It was a story of what might have been today, but Monty always takes a bit of catching."

Early in the day, Clarke looked to make a big charge, with three consecutive threes from the fourth - an eagle, a birdie and a par - getting his round off to a flying start. He had three birdies in his back nine too to close with a 66, but it was never going to be enough to beat Monty.

Afterwards, the popular Ulsterman said: "To catch Monty I knew I would have to shoot 61 or 62. I had chances on six and seven - if I had knocked one of them in I might have given myself some more momentum."

Garcia, who had not been at his best with his putter, hit a glorious approach on the 18th but missed the putt and finished with a 70 for to be 11-under. That left him in a tie for fifth with Australia's Richard Green.

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