Golf: Monty’s not for quitting

Colin Montgomerie plans to quit golf the moment he thinks he cannot win again.

But the world number nine, without a victory in Europe for 56 weeks, does not consider himself even close to that point yet - and aims to prove it at the Murphy’s Irish Open starting at Fota Island near Cork tomorrow.

‘‘When I know the best I can do is 10th I will give up,’’ said the Scot, 38 last Saturday.

‘‘But right now the best I can do is first, so I’m here.’’

Only 13th in the current Ryder Cup standings with just 12 qualifying events left, Montgomerie admits his pride would be hurt greatly if he fails to climb into the top 10 and therefore needs a wild card from captain Sam Torrance.

But such a scenario is not something he expects to see happen.

‘‘I’ve always qualified first or second for the five matches I’ve played and I intend to do the same this time,’’ added the seven-time European No 1.

His luck could already be changing. At Royal Ascot last week he had his first-ever bet and came up trumps with 11/8 shot Johannesburg in the Norfolk Stakes.

Apart from visiting Wimbledon on Monday he does not have a break before the Open at Lytham on July 19-22 and Montgomerie is aiming to prove that he is not the same cause for concern as Lee Westwood.

After missing the cut in the US Open two weeks ago Westwood went to the Great North Open in Northumberland and after rounds of 81 and 74 crashed out again, 133rd of the 144 starters.

Montgomerie’s 52nd place in Tulsa a fortnight ago represented his worst-ever showing at the event, but he is not expecting things to go from bad to worse in the same way.

After a week of hard practice - Ascot apart - he said: ‘‘I am playing an awful lot better.

‘‘I’ve been missing an awful lot of fairways and it’s been putting pressure on the putting. That’s something I can get out of quickly by going back to doing what I did before.

‘‘You can expect to see the Colin of old.’’

Ten of the 12 players ahead of Montgomerie in the Ryder Cup table are taking part, the only absentees being points leader Pierre Fulke and Westwood.

Padraig Harrington is among them, but he is seriously concerned that an injury originally suffered playing Gaelic football 12 years ago could damage his chances.

No home player has won the event since John O’Leary way back in 1982, but with Harrington, Darren Clarke and Paul McGinley in the field, hopes have never been higher.

Harrington believes the lack of Irish success in their national Open - his best finish is seventh - is down to the fact that outside of the majors it is the most cherished title.

‘‘Paul McGinley and I have discussed different tactics to try to do better and this year it’s to relax and not get too stressed out.

‘‘We would be delighted for any Irish guy to win to take the monkey off our backs.

‘‘At a normal tournament the pressure does not come until the last round or even the last few holes, but here there are six days of expectations.

‘‘It’s the same as Tiger Woods puts up with every week and you can only admire how he copes with it.’’

Harrington’s last competitive round was with Woods at the US Open.

He scored 74 and the world number one a 69 which left him 12th and ended his run of four successive major victories.

‘‘I was trying to learn anything I could. It was a nice experience because it wasn’t that important we were also-rans and it was a nice price to pay because hopefully I will be playing with him when it’s a lot more important.’’