There were more brollies than a Mary Poppins convention as the intrigued onlookers gathered in the dour, damp conditions at Gailes Links to see if Colin Montgomerie could qualify for the Open Championship. Even the Pied Piper would have probably asked the big Scot for tips on how to lure them in.
Monty made it. But only just. After a run of 21 consecutive Opens stretching back to his debut in 1990, the 53-year-old hasn’t played in the game’s oldest major since 2010. He’ll be back next month, though, and it will be a fitting return to the Royal Troon club where he is an honorary member.
Having strung together rounds of 66 and 71 for a five-under 137, Montgomerie was left nibbling his finger nails in his car for two hours as he waited on the last groups to finish. For a spell it looked like his compatriot, Jack Doherty, might scupper his ambitions completely or at least force him into a play-off for the third and final qualifying spot.
Having leaked a shot on the 15th, Doherty, playing in the penultimate group, saw a racing 40-footer for birdie on the 17th hit the back of the cup and stay out. That meant he needed a birdie on the last to make the five-under mark and drag Monty out of his motor for a sudden-death shoot-out. Sadly for the popular Doherty it wasn’t to be and Montgomerie could breathe a considerable sigh of relief. “Christ,” he gasped. “That was worse than commentating.”
Montgomerie was in carnival mood ahead of his qualifying campaign and a rousing late charge on the back-nine of his morning round, which included four birdies in his last six holes, had him sitting in a healthy position. Things started to get tense in the afternoon, though, and a tee-shot on 15 which plugged in the bunker saw the dark clouds descending. “People everywhere,” he muttered as he clumped through the throng to find his ball in a perilous spot. “The worst lie of the year”, he noted. To limit the damage there to a bogey was a good result and in the end it proved crucial.
Ahead of him, Sweden's Oskar Arvidsson won with a 10-under tally, four ahead of Spain's Scott Fernandez. Down at Hillside in Southport, meanwhile, Scotsman Jay Taylor was beaten in a late play-off for the final Open place there.
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