Monty’s token gesture badly thought-out

CONSIDERING he had just run up a triple bogey at the ninth, his 18th, Colin Montgomerie was in uncommonly good humour after yesterday’s opening round in the British Masters.

While Monty would love to see the highly favourable drop that he gave himself in the Indonesia Open disappear from the headlines, it simply won’t do so.

The European Tour’s tournament committee, of which he himself is a member, expressed their “dissatisfaction” at what happened and the Scot himself agrees with the stance that chairman Jamie Spence and his colleagues have taken.

He accepts that they were right to admonish him and confesses to having behaved in an improper manner.

He also came under the microscope after an incident at the Volvo Masters a couple of years ago and there have been other less publicised incidents.

And as Monty’s all-too-frequently grumpy manner has cost him many friends over the years, he can expect little sympathy from his fellow players and the members of the media whom he has treated shabbily over the years.

While his integrity in a game renowned for its insistence on fair play has undoubtedly been tarnished, nobody, however, questions his ability and for 17 holes yesterday, he was better than most in his battle with the strong, chilly wind blowing over the testing midlands lay-out.

Disaster was lying in wait, though, when the triple bogey at his last hole spoiled an otherwise fine day’s work.

Monty kept himself under control as he faced up to the media.

“It wasn’t the best finish, I’ve just taken seven at the last, I’ve just three- putted from two-and-a-half feet so if you give me a little bit of space, I can breathe and I’ll be able to talk to you,” he grunted.

And then he opened a topic that struck a chord with just about everyone.

“It was too, too slow, five-and-a-half hours since we started. We are given four-and-a-half hours, which is long enough, and we are an hour over.

“I don’t understand why it should be like that, but we are part of the reason, I suppose.”

When it was suggested that the presence of a referee with a watch might have helped matters, he snapped: “I didn’t see any and I’ve had my fill of referees for now.”

And had he any comment to make on the “dissatisfaction” expressed by the tournament committee?

“Ask them, please ask them,” he said.

“Ask Jamie Spence, he’s the chairman of the committee and does a very, very good job. I can’t tell you how they were dissatisfied but they were, as I was, and that is what the statement said.”

Just in case you’ve been living on Mars for the past few weeks, Montgomerie hit his ball into a bad spot on the bank of a bunker during the second round of the Indonesian event.

He was planning to play his recovery with one foot in the sand when the siren sounded to declare a cessation of play because of lightning.

He ran for cover, leaving his ball where it was, and when he returned the following morning, it had disappeared.

He then consulted with his playing partners, Arjun Atwal and Thongchai Jaidee, and substituted another ball.

The Finn, Soren Kjeldsen, was watching on television.

He was sure Montgomerie gave himself a favourable drop and reported the matter to the tournament committee, who showed the tape to the Scot.

He didn’t at all like what he was seeing and decided to hand over his prize cheque of more than €24,000 to the tsunami relief fund.

However, he did more harm than good by choosing to do so for it ended up looking like a damage limitation exercise.