Monty just one off pace

Colin Montgomerie, showing no signs of rust at all after three weeks off, stepped up his bid for yet another European tour victory on Friday.

A second round 66 left the Scot, Europe's number one for an amazing six years in a row, just a stroke behind Swede Per-Ulrik Johansson at the halfway stage of the Benson and Hedges International Open at The Oxfordshire.

The pair were playing together and while Montgomerie missed the course record by only a single shot, Johansson equalled it in reaching the 11 under par total of 133.

"Possibly I'm unique in being able to come straight out after a break and play like this," said Montgomerie, yet to have a bogey and even more remarkably yet to miss a green in his search for an 18th success on the circuit he has dominated this decade.

Not that he wants to convey the impression that golf even for him is an easy game.

"Nobody will ever conquer or perfect golf," he added. "Believe me, it's not easy."

After his 65 Johansson, hoping for a third Ryder Cup cap in September, said: "We really had fun out there. I've not putted that well this year, so it was nice to make some."

In one spell that Montgomerie described as "incredible" Johansson sank 20-footers for birdies on the ninth and 10th, then a 50-footer for eagle on the next.

"When he was 10 feet away on the next I suggested he picked it up," stated Montgomerie.

"He was going to hole it and it would have speeded things up." Sure enough, that putt dropped as well.

Johansson's trademark beret-style style - he was dubbed Monica Lewinsky last year when it first appeared - is not something Montgomerie is contemplating, but the Scot said that if it guaranteed he holed everything he would consider "bleaching my hair blue with a white cross."

Welshman Phil Price, joint overnight leader with Spain's Miguel Angel Jimenez, added a 70 to lie third on nine under and only two further back are Masters champion Jose Maria Olazabal and Nick Faldo, enjoying what he terms the "comfort factor" of playing in Europe as opposed to America.

After their rounds both Faldo and Olazabal expressed their sadness at the death on Thursday of 97-year-old Gene Sarazen, one of only four golfers to win all four of the sport's major titles.

Faldo said: "He was a remarkable man. I sat down with him at Augusta last month and said we would be seeing him at 100. He replied 'You bet'.

"I thought he was a little iron man. We always sign the books at Augusta and his hand didn't move. He signed in a perfect straight line."

Olazabal, who will host next year's champions dinner, said: "We will miss him there for sure. Every time I saw him he seemed in a happy mood and his passing away is very sad. He was a great person and I'm sure he will be fine upstairs.

"When you saw him walking past you were seeing history - that's very special."

Olazabal is still to have a bogey after 36 holes, while Faldo's only one so far came when a seven-foot putt horseshoed out of the hole on the 438-yard first, his 10th of the day.

He hit back from that, however, with three birdies in the next five holes and would have been even closer to the lead but for missing birdie chances of four feet on the long seventh and seven feet at the next.

Still, he was delighted to have kept moving forward when so often in the 26 months since his last solo success he has promised and then fallen back.

"Everything is a little bit better," he said. "I'm starting to hit better shots when I need them and that's the only way I'm going to get my confidence back.

"I didn't have a good run in America at all and I had to stop and rethink. But all I'm being told (principally by coach Chip Koehlke) is to keep doing what I have been - it's all there."

Then he talked of his comfort factor.

"The depth on the US Tour is far greater. If you are not on a wave there of believing you can go out and shoot 65 every time, you are going backwards. My game was just not been good enough, so it's been very difficult."

Ryder Cup captain Mark James, his playing partner for the last two days, said: "Nick played nicely. I think he missed only two greens today."

James, who missed the cut on five over par himself, had noticed as well that in Texas 19-year-old Sergio Garcia, playing only his second professional tournament, opened the Byron Nelson Classic with a 62 to be only one behind Tiger Woods.

"That sounded almost too good to be true," said James with a smile. "I'll be watching his progress with great interest - as I will everybody else's, of course!"

Sandy Lyle stayed in contention on five under with a 70, coming back from two early bogeys with four successive birdies to the turn, while defending champion Darren Clarke, Ian Woosnam and Seve Ballesteros both safely made the cut on three under.

Woosnam's 70 was almost bizarre. He double-bogeyed the third and fifth and was three over then, rattled off seven birdies, then dropped another shot at the 16th.

Current European number one David Howell, however, missed his second in a row at two over and must now wait to see how damaging it is to his chances of a US Open debut next month.

The Swindon 23-year-old will be at Pinehurst if he is first or second on the money list after the Volvo PGA championship in a fortnight, but he has left the door open now to be overtaken.