Monty counting on fear factor and a big third round

COLIN MONTGOMERIE is hoping the fear factor will come into play in the third round of the UBS Hong Kong Open.

Montgomerie fired four birdies and no bogeys in a flawless 66, at Fanling Golf Club yesterday, to end the day four shots behind halfway leader Rick Gibson of Canada.

With Paul Casey missing the cut and Thomas Bjorn off the pace, after four-putting the 17th, Denmark’s Soren Kjeldsen is the only other European Tour winner in the top 10 and Montgomerie is hoping his experience will tell in the final two rounds.

There are three Irish qualifiers. Damian McGrane is on 139, after shooting a 71 and Peter Lawrie is on 141, after a 69, the same total as Gary Murphy who shot a 73. David Higgins failed to make the cut.

Asked if his presence on the leaderboard sounded an ominous warning to the other players, Montgomerie said: “Provided I get off to a good start tomorrow then yes, it definitely does.”

Starting from the 10th, the 42-year-old Scot birdied the 12th and 17th and, after a run of seven straight pars, picked up further shots at the seventh and ninth.

The eight-time European number one felt that final birdie was like “picking up a shot-and-a-half on the field” on what is possibly the course’s hardest hole, but he was not entirely satisfied after seeing a number of other chances slip away on the tricky greens.

“I played very well tee to green but missed a number of putts,” the 42-year-old Scot said. “All the greens have a lot of grain in them - apart from the two new ones - and I haven’t quite got the pace right yet.”

Montgomerie admits he almost followed Padraig Harrington in making a late withdrawal from the event at the end of an exhausting season.

He played 27 events around the world before arriving in Hong Kong, and flies from the Far East to California next week to play in Tiger Woods’ invitational event. In his seven years as European number one, from 1993-99, he averaged 19 events a season.

This is already the third event of the 2006 European Tour schedule, but Montgomerie added: “It does feel like the end of the year rather than the third event of the season. But if I was level par or one under I would feel a lot more tired. A 66 helps with fatigue in many ways.”

Gibson - a member of Canada’s 1994 Dunhill Cup-winning team - added a second-round 66 to his opening 65, to lead on nine under par. The 44-year-old finished one shot ahead of former American Walker Cup player Edward Loar with Sweden’s Martin Erlandsson a shot back in third.

England’s Andrew Butterfield, who finished fourth on the Challenge Tour in 2005 to regain his playing rights for this season, carded a 65 to move to six under.

Defending champion Miguel Angel Jimenez - looking to become the first player to successfully defend the title - is four under after a 67, two ahead of Bjorn who four-putted the 17th for double bogey, his last three putts coming from inside three feet.

Casey, winner of the China Open on Sunday, improved by six shots on his opening 74, but missed the cut by a single shot on two over par.

Fellow Englishman Nick Dougherty birdied his final hole to make the cut on the mark.