Montgomerie moves into contention

COLIN MONTGOMERIE carded his first sub-70 round of the year at the 16th attempt to move into contention for a first Italian Open title.

Montgomerie added a second round 67 to his opening 70 for a seven under par halfway total of 137 at Gardagolf, just three shots behind joint leaders Peter O’Malley and Swedish rookie Fredrik Widmark.

Ireland’s Damien McGrane, Gary Murphy and Philip Walton all made the cut. McGrane added a 68 to his opening 73, while Murphy and Walton are in a group on 142 after rounds of 73 and 69 respectively yesterday.