Monty wins again with magic 64

Colin Montgomerie showed Sergio Garcia who is boss in Europe by grabbing one of the most spectacular victories of his career at Loch Lomond on Saturday.

An incredible nine-birdie blitz in the space of 12 holes carried Montgomerie to his third victory of the season - and made him the first native-born Scot to win an international professional tournament in Scotland for nearly 40 years.

Five behind after four holes of the final round of the Standard Life-sponsored tournament - final warm-up event for the Open at Carnoustie - Montgomerie decided it was time to move into overdrive.

From the fifth to the 16th he simply ripped the course apart and even with a bogey on the final hole he was round in 64 and lifted the £166,657 first prize by three strokes from 19-year-old sensation Garcia, and Swedes Mats Lanner and Michael Jonzon.

After winning the Benson and Hedges International by three with a closing 68 and the Volvo PGA championship by five with a last-day 64, an unbelievable seventh successive Order of Merit crown in Europe now looks odds-on for the 36-year-old world number six.

But the big question is: how about a first Major in a week's time?

"I suppose I have as good a chance as anyone," said Montgomerie, who finished on the 16 under par total of 268. "But Carnoustie is a whole different ball game.

"This is extra special, though. I'm from the western side of Scotland (born in Glasgow, raised in Troon) and you can't really beat winning here.

"It makes me very proud. I had a job to do today and I did it.

"I was hoping for a top three finish here with next week in mind. To win is an added bonus.

"I was annoyed with my bogey at the first - it proved to my competitors that things were not going well - but then I got on a reasonable run."

That was a massive understatement. He hardly put a foot wrong and Garcia and the rest were powerless to stop him.

Now the nation - indeed the world - will wait to see if he can carry the form on.

Montgomerie's Open record is absolutely dire. He has missed the cut in five of the last seven years. But he is the course record holder at Carnoustie and expectations will be sky-high once again.

As they will with Garcia. A week after winning the Irish Open in only his sixth professional tournament, last year's British amateur champion shot an opening 62 and while never reproducing that remained in contention throughout.

A hat-trick of birdies from the 12th made him Montgomerie's biggest threat, but as Montgomerie was bogeying the last Garcia was letting a shot go at the 16th.

As a result he had to birdie the last two holes. But he missed a 15-foot putt on the short 17th, then bogeyed the 18th as well to fall back alongside Lanner and Jonzon.

Garcia's £74,566 winnings and equivalent Ryder Cup points, however, lift him into a top 10 automatic spot after just five counting events, a remarkable achievement.

There was delight and annoyance for Lanner and Jonzon. They produced easily their best performances of the season - but each had to finish second on their own to avoid the 36-hole final qualifying for the Open on Saturday and Sunday.

By just failing in that Lancashire's Paul Eales, who had missed the Loch Lomond event because of a virus, earned the last of the five exempt places from a mini-Order of Merit which has been running on the European circuit since the end of May.

Garcia and Hereford-based Welshman David Park had already qualified from that going into the Standard Life tournament, and the other spots at Carnoustie go to Argentinian Angel Cabrera and Spaniard Miguel Angel Martin.

Defending champion Lee Westwood led by one overnight, but after turning in 33 he drove into a bush on the 10th, double-bogeyed and was out of the race once he also bogeyed the 12th.

He finished joint fifth with Swede Jesper Parnevik.

Park, winner of only his second tour event at Slaley Hall two weeks ago, was joint-second at the start of the day, but had an even worse time than Westwood on the inward half.

Four-putting the 10th for a triple bogey seven, he came home in 39 to slump to nine under and joint-10th spot.

Garcia, up from 18th to seventh in the Ryder Cup table, commented: "Monty played great. He was just making birdies and birdies and birdies. I congratulate him."

Westwood added: "I didn't really hole anything all day. In fact, I didn't all week."

But the quote of the day was from Dane Thomas Bjorn to Montgomerie.

Bjorn had just shot 76 to drop from joint-second to 20th and, on seeing Europe's number one, said: "What planet are you from?"

The last home-born Scot to win north of the border was Eric Brown at the News of the World match play championship at Turnberry in 1960.

Brian Barnes and Ken Brown won in Scotland in the early 1980s - but they were both born in England.

Tears were gathering in Montgomerie's eyes as he spoke afterwards about what winning meant.

He wanted to savour this win before thinking about the Open, but revealed a lot when he commented: "One down, one to go."

Nick Faldo, with such high hopes with 18 holes to play, never got going and finished with a triple-bogey seven for a 74 and 29th place.