Monty's pass on pro-am ahead of British Masters

COLIN MONTGOMERIE will be notable by his absence when the eve-of-tournament pro-am for the British Masters takes place at the Forest of Arden near Coventry today.

Less than a week after announcing that he and his wife were separating and planning to divorce, the Ryder Cup star has been given permission by the European tour to miss the celebrity-packed pro-am.

"This has been a desperately difficult decision for us both and is a painful time for the family," said the couple in their statement before asking for privacy and dismissing media speculation that had linked Eimear with actor Hugh Grant, Montgomerie's pro-am partner in the Dunhill Links Championship in Scotland last October.

The first European tour event on British soil this year is also Montgomerie's first event since he missed the halfway cut in the Masters at Augusta a month ago his fifth early exit in the last six major championships.

The 40-year-old was due to play in a tournament in China last week but after making the trip to the Far East for some course design work, he headed home again.

Now he is about to find out just how big an effect the break-up of his marriage could have on his golf three years after revealing in his autobiography the huge strain his pursuit of success had put on his domestic life.

He does not really need to see the Forest of Arden lay-out before tomorrow's first round. The course is not only where Montgomerie won the British Masters now sponsored by the Daily Telegraph and Damovo in 1998 but also the venue for his 1994 victory in the English Open.

Last June, however, he missed the halfway cut there and was embroiled in rows first with a press photographer during his first round and then in the car park with a journalist.

The tournament is earlier this season because of the loss of the Benson & Hedges International Open from the schedule thanks to the British government ban on tobacco sponsorship.

It is the start of an important run which Montgomerie hopes will end with him earning exemptions for both next month's US Open and the Open in July at his home club Royal Troon.

His name does not appear on the exempt list for either at the moment. But if he is in the top 50 in the world rankings at the end of the month he need not worry about qualifying.

Montgomerie currently stands 45th and also has the Deutsche Bank-SAP Open in Germany and Volvo PGA championship at Wentworth coming up.

Today's pro-am features a host of sporting stars, and an 11-year-old Scot who has already made her mark in golf.

Schoolgirl Carly Booth only 5ft 2in and under seven stones - plays off a handicap of four, is champion at three Scottish clubs and has already represented her country. She will be partnering former Open and Masters champion Sandy Lyle in a field which also includes pop star Ronan Keating, England rugby captain Lawrence Dallaglio, Gary Lineker and Kenny Dalglish from soccer and jockeys Tony McCoy, Mick Fitzgerald and Kieren Fallon.

Darren Clarke, Lee Westwood, Nick Faldo and Paul Casey head the list of golf professionals taking part while the day could start with an amateur earning £266,667 for charity with one putt.

The same amount as the winner of the tournament will receive goes to the Steve Redgrave Charitable Trust if Mike Clapp, winner of a sponsor's competition, holes a putt on the 18th green.