Singapore Masters: Montgomerie hopes to leave them in the shade

Colin Montgomerie hopes everyone will be sick of the sight of him in more ways than one in the Caltex Singapore Masters.

Montgomerie arrived in the city to find his image plastered all over hundreds of massive posters promoting the tournamen.

And the former European number one hopes his opponents will have to become accustomed again to seeing his name on top of the leaderboard after a disappointing 2000 by his own high standards.

"Walking down the street and looking up it is all Colin Montgomerie posters and there's a few at the airport as well," Montgomerie said. "It's great. It's very good promotion

"I just put the dark glasses on and go for a walk!"

Montgomerie makes his European Tour debut with a tournament victory already under his belt in the Australian Masters last week.

The Scot carded a final round 69 to win by a stroke in Melbourne after an eight week break that has given him a fresh appetite for the battle and the hunt for that elusive major title.

"Before Australia I went to Houston to see my coach (Paul Marchand) for a day and a half and that is all I did," he added. "People say he must have been doing something but I really don't practice.

"I was supposed to practice when I got home but the weather was so bad I didn't bother. I had a couple of days in Australia to work things out and go. It's amazing how fresh you can be and that's what it is about.

"It all seemed good when I was with my coach but you never know. I had 13 new clubs in the bag and it was just a matter of trying to hang on and see what happens."

Montgomerie's major opposition this week is likely to come from Vijay Singh and Padraig Harrington who fought out the sudden-death play-off in Kuala Lumpur last week.