Colin
Montgomerie left Lee Westwood close behind in his slipstream as the battle to
be European number one resumed at the British Masters on Thursday.
With Westwood the only significant contender in Montgomerie's bid to finish top
in Europe for a seventh successive year, the Scot fired an opening five-under-par
salvo of 67 to head his rival by a single shot.
Westwood looked as if he would overhaul Montgomerie until he double-bogeyed the
16th hole. But he remained confident he could cut into Montgomerie's lead of almost
324,000 pounds ($529,600) on the money list by the end of the week.
"You don't win tournaments
on the first day, you only lose them. I'm in a good position, especially the way
I'm playing," said Westwood who is trying to become only the third player after
Seve Ballesteros and Nick Faldo to win a fourth successive tournament in Europe.
Montgomerie's
steady round of five birdies left him in joint second place behind Australian
Stephen Allan's 65 as the tournament returned to the Duke's Course at Woburn after
an absence of five years
Montgomerie, who began his round at the 10th, sank birdie putts of 10, 20 and
15 feet at the 12th, 15th and 17 holes. Then he chipped to four feet to set up
another birdie at the long 18th and rounded off his score with a two-putt birdie
at the long fourth.
"I
was never in trouble to think about dropping a shot. I didn't miss a green. It's
always nice when you don't make a mistake," he said.
Allan's 65 was also bogey-free, his best round in a disappointing season after
he finished 16th on the money list last year and won the German Open.
This year he is 84th on the list with a best finish of 19th in the British PGA
championship.
"My
target for the year was to win again and get into the top 15. I'm going to have
to play very well to get there now," said Allan whose parents emigrated to Australia
from Scotland in 1970 -- three years before he was born.
Allan, who has e-mail lessons from his Melbourne-based coach Dale Lynch every
week, made putts of 25 and 15 feet for two of his seven birdies. The others came
from good approach shots.
Tied with Montgomerie for second place were Soren Kjeldsen of Denmark, who led
by one shot with five holes to play before three successive bogeys pulled him
back, Stephen Leaney of Australia, Italian Silvio Grappasonni and Englishman Steve
Webster.
Westwood's
double bogey at the 16th came after he hit his tee shot behind a tree.
"I took a three wood and it
should have been a two iron. I tried to hook it around the tree but it hit a limb
and shot across the fairway," he said.
Then he overhit the green, chipped to five feet and two-putted.
Ian Woosnam, the winner when the tournament was last held at Woburn in 1994, was
level with Westwood on 68, as was Bernhard Langer.
Langer admitted he was very disappointed not to have been chosen three weeks ago
as a wild card for the European Ryder Cup team after nine successive appearances.
"It took a while
to get over it because it was one of my goals to make the team and I played more
than I would have done in an effort to make it," he said.
"But
I'm over it now. Hopefully, I'll be playing well enough in the future to have
another chance."
Seve Ballesteros, who won at Woburn in 1988 and 1991, shot 71 with five birdies
on the last 10 holes after dropping four shots over the first six holes.
