Monty speaks too soon

He continued his pastoral reflections. "Loch Lomond is a magical place. I have played at Pebble Beach and a lot of other fancy places around the world but, on a good day, when the sun shines and then sets over the Loch, my God, there is no better setting. It is just unbelievable."

There is more to Monty's love affair with Loch Lomond than meets the eye. Just three months ago, he married Gaynor Knowles at the venue. On the morning of his wedding, he played the par-three eighth hole 18 times in the company of his guests. He shot 14 pars and four birdies and admitted this week that "I am dreading playing it again in a sense because, if I bogey it in the tournament, I may well decide to walk in."

Fast forward to yesterday afternoon and Monty is standing on the eighth tee, his 17th hole. His tee shot finds the left side of the green and leaves him a 40-foot putt.

Uh-oh. He leaves his putt eight feet short. He starts to shake his head. Then his second putt lips out. He lowers his head and trudges off the green after three-putting. Typical.

"There was almost too much pressure to make the par. I played it 18 times on my wedding day, didn't bogey it at all and then three-putted it today. Weird, weird," he muttered after a two-under round of 69.

The eighth was one of only two blemishes in an otherwise solid round from the Scot. On the seventh, his tee shot hit a tree on the right and lost him a stroke, but he declared himself satisfied with his round.

"That's what I'm looking for," he said. "The first fairway I missed was the seventh 16th and the first green I missed was the seventh. I hit all 15 greens in a row up until that stage. The seventh and eighth were disappointing, especially the eighth hole, but I hit a good wedge in at the last which made up for that.

"Sixty-nine is never a bad score. It was uneventful and I want to get home and rest now. I had a very early start, 4.30 this morning, and it has been a long day already."

Montgomerie's tee-off was delayed by an hour and a half after a heavy downpour left the course sodden. However, it did not stop the Scot from making a bright start, stringing together five pars and two birdies in the opening seven holes.

The problems started on the par-five third, his 12th. Montgomerie pushed his drive, hacked out of the rough and finally missed a four-foot putt for birdie. The glower returned and, at one point, he expressed his frustration at the number of media and officials following him. "Bit too many people on the fairway, lads," he hollered.

He proceeded to miss a 12-footer for birdie on the fourth and his mood darkened further after his slip-ups on the seventh and eighth. However, he gave the sizeable gallery something to cheer about when he birdied the last. His 69 proved solid, particularly after the early-morning deluge.

Montgomerie praised the drainage on the course. "The conditions were not too bad. We got very lucky. At one stage we were anticipating a very long day sitting around, but the weather seemed to clear. The amount of money they've put into this club in drainage has worked. This course is about a foot higher than it was when we first came here due to sand. The course drains very well now, considering the rain we had overnight and this morning, which was dramatic."

Montgomerie admitted that the wet conditions meant the course was playing a lot longer than usual. "The ball was plugging in the fairways and playing with these two guys his playing partners, Pablo Larrazabal and Lee Westwood who hit the ball an awful long way, I was behind today. I hit a four-iron to the last and Lee was hitting a seven, it's a big difference.

"I had a long way into the second as well and I'm not getting the run that I usually do on a firmer course. A lower ball flight is not good round here as opposed to the way that they fly it."