Mickelson, Woods and Furyk the ones to beat, says Monty

COLIN MONTGOMERIE has never been one to down play his own prospects or boosting those of his rivals.

But when he stated at Carnoustie yesterday that the leading players in the world, Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Jim Furyk are “the three you always have to beat”, you sense that he doesn’t hold out a great deal of hope for either himself or the other Europeans of ending the eight-year hiatus since Paul Lawrie kept the claret jug on this side of the Atlantic.

“This week we have Tiger Woods going for three wins in a row and not many have done that,” he asserted. “It’s amazing how they’re able to adapt their games to these very different conditions. We used to have a more dominating position in this championship but not now. You have Woods and Mickelson and then Jim Furyk, you must always remember him, he’s a very underrated player whom I rate very highly. They’re always the players to beat.”