Montgomerie shows return to form

A five-under-par 67 took Colin Montgomerie to within two strokes of the Wales Open first round lead on Thursday and demonstrated the troubled Briton is at least enjoying on-course life again.

Montgomerie carded his best round since the announcement of his marriage breakup a month ago to lie only two shots behind fellow-Briton David Howell, who holds a one-stroke lead over the field.

While Montgomerie said he was still not happy away from the golf course, he was delighted with a faultless round that was marked by only five birdies.

"This is the first round I've not made a bogey for a while," said the former seven-times European number one. "I'm delighted by that. I always pride myself on the mistakes I don't make, rather than the birdies I do."

The 40-year-old Scot showed he may well be ready to win again when he added: "I actually felt quite competitive again out there which is a good sign.

"One round doesn't make a summer but when you see your name on the leaderboard it's good, because it hasn't happened for a while. I was actually very disappointed to miss a 10-footer for birdie on the last and that's also quite a good sign."

Montgomerie's demeanour seemed much more upbeat and he appeared a different man to the one who recorded his worst two-round total since he turned professional in 1987 when he missed the cut in the TPC of Europe two weeks ago.

When asked if his 67 would now help him as far as his domestic problems were concerned, Montgomerie said: "No. This was five hours work.

"I'm just very, very fortunate I've got this game to fall back on and I'm very lucky I can put my heart and soul into my game."

A light-hearted round with the defending champion Ian Poulter, who shot 71, and his Ryder Cup playing-partner Paul Lawrie, who carded a 72, and being away from Wentworth, which is near his home and proved too much pressure for him last week, was cited by Montgomerie as another reason for his uplifting round.

Howell overhauled the 66s shot by the morning leaders Emanuele Canonica and Marcel Siem with an eight-birdie haul to continue his run of good form as he again looks likely to add to his 1999 Dubai Desert Classic victory.

"If I'm injury-free then I know I can play well," said Howell, whose litany of breaks and sprains have held back his career.

"The last 18 months I've moved up a gear in my game. I'm working out to try to steer clear of injury and it is paying off, although last week I jarred my arm on the range and that put me back in the middle of the pack at Wentworth."

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