| Munich,
Germany, 28th August 1998 -
Denmark's Thomas Bjorn increased his lead to three shots in the BMW International
Open by carding a second round 67 on Friday as Colin Montgomerie missed a second
successive halfway cut. While
Bjorn prospered to total 13-under-par 131, Ryder Cup teammate Montgomerie crashed
out with a 75 for 147 and pointed the accusing finger at his putter. Bjorn
enhanced his chances of moving past Montgomerie into third place on the European
money list by collecting six birdies against just one bogey. "It
was very, very cold and I don't like getting up at 5:00 am," said Bjorn.
"And I had to work hard on the front nine to keep with it. "The
key to getting well ahead was my birdie after the turn because it made me feel
I could post a good score if I was patient. "My
64 in the first round could be the turning point of the season for me and now
I want to play myself up the Order of Merit. The
Dane produced an exhilarating finish with birdies at three of his last four holes
to lead German playing partner Sven Struever by three strokes. Montgomerie
said he took 41 putts though the official statistics showed just 35 and finished
five shots outside the qualifying mark for the weekend, the first time he has
missed consecutive cuts since 1991. He
missed by three shots last week in the European Open in Ireland and this was his
third miss in five tournaments. "I three-putted five times and it just goes
on and Asked
if there were any of the good points left of those he said he had picked up from
new putting guru Dave Pelz, whom he worked with at the US PGA Championship two
weeks ago, Montgomerie was also negative. "No,
no, no. You wouldn't think so," replied the Scot. Struever,
shrugging off a bruised wrist and a stolen putter, retained his overnight second
spot with a 69 and 134. Struver's
tidy round of four birdies after an early bogey came after he needed treatment
and painkillers at a clinic on Wednesday when he was struck on the wrist by a
pro-am partner's clubhead. Then
on Thursday morning his found his putter missing from the bag and had to find
a similar one. Compatriot
Bernhard Langer did his best to play catch-up in the afternoon but fell four strokes
short to take third place on 135 after a 67. Another
German, Thomas Goegele, joint second overnight a stroke adrift of Bjorn, finished
poorly for a 71 to share fourth spot on 136 with Spain's Jose Maria Olazabal,
who came through the field with a 66. Olazabal's
countryman Seve Ballesteros also shot 66, the former Ryder Cup skipper turning
a battle to make the cut into a typical swashbuckling round to total 138 for a
share of 11th place. Northern
Ireland's Darren Clarke, trying to take top spot in the European rankings, is
on the same mark after a 70. Like
Montgomerie, Britain's bright young prospect Justin Rose also slipped badly to
miss his fourth successive cut since turning pro. The
18-year-old Englishman had three double bogeys in a 79 and with just three events
left of the seven invitations he is allowed, he admitted his chances were now
remote of earning his 1999 playing card from his invites and avoiding the Tour
qualifying school. Ian
Woosnam on 143 and new Ryder Cup captain Mark James (145) were others to miss
the cut. | 
