Mission accomplished for Monty

COLIN MONTGOMERIE set himself a goal when he first saw the draw for the Scottish Open: “finish ahead of partners Ernie Els and Lee Westwood going into the week-end, and I have a good chance.”

Well, the anguished Scot has achieved that objective having completed 36 holes at Loch Lomond in five under par, one better than both Els and Westwood, and aims to develop on that over the week-end as he bids for his first tournament win since 2002 and his second Scottish Open.

The leader of the €3.3m event is the Frenchman Gregory Havret who is nine under after a 64 and one ahead of Englishmen Ian Poulter and David Howell and Phillip Price of Wales.