| Coventry,
England, 13th September 1998 -
Colin Montgomerie stormed back into the contest to finish European number one
when he won the One 2 One British Masters by one shot on Sunday.
The Briton, Europe's top-ranked
player for the last five years, finally ended a lengthy lean spell and lifted
the £125,000 ($211,000) first prize at windswept Forest of Arden. His
three-under-par closing round of 69 took him to a seven-under total of 281, ahead
of Argentine veteran Eduardo Romero and Sweden's Pierre Fulke. Overnight
leader Paolo Quirici of Switzerland was a further shot back. It
was Montgomerie's third win of the year and his second European Tour success,
after victories in the Andersen Consulting world championship and British PGA
championship. Montgomerie's
bid for a sixth successive order of merit title started to flag earlier this season
and compatriots Lee Westwood and Darren Clarke swept past him. But
Montgomerie showed the lull has ended and his game is back in shape, by mastering
high winds on a course where his record is second to none. In
previous English Opens at the course, Montgomerie has won once and finished second
three times, including a losing playoff. Despite
starting in the pack one shot adrift of Quirici, Montgomerie saved his victory
bid until late. Three birdies in five holes from the 13th finally took him two
shots clear of the field. He could even afford to bogey the last. "I
don't know why I play so well here at this course," said Montgomerie, who
helped re-design some of the layout. "But I've never been outside the top-two,
so there must be something that suits me. "The
most satisfying thing was playing well in such difficult conditions. I've been
struggling with my game for the last two months so it was nice to win in demanding
conditions." Montgomerie's
prize was still not good enough to overhaul second-placed Clarke in the rankings,
even though his rival fell away with a 75 for 287. Clarke's
demise left him a stroke worse than Westwood, who finished in 70. With
four tournaments remaining, Westwood leads table on £614,000 ($1.04 million),
with Clarke second on £606,000 ($1.02 million) and Montogmerie now well in sight
with £580,000 ($979,000).
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