Someone could have died at Gleneagles: Monty

Colin Montgomerie let it be known what he thought today just before a ferocious thunderstorm forced players and spectators to run for cover at Gleneagles in Scotland.

“Someone could be killed out here,” said Montgomerie seconds before play was suspended in the Diageo Championship.

The Ryder Cup star was among 78 players on the course when the European tour’s lightning equipment suddenly went straight to red alert and sounded an alarm.

Within minutes of the event being halted fairways and greens were flooded and it was nearly three hours before it could resume.

Whatever some players and fans might have felt, tour officials stated they reacted as quickly as they could.

“That’s probably the worst storm I have experienced at a tournament in Britain,” said chief referee John Paramor. “It was more like a tropical storm in Asia or Africa – without the heat.

“There are four settings on the equipment and I’ve never seen it go straight to red before. We had no reason to suspend play before we did.

“Most of the vehicles were on their way out, so some of the players had to seek shelter. Most were off the course, though, before the really nasty stuff came.”

The suspension came in mid-afternoon and by then England’s Miles Tunnicliff and Australian left-hander Nick O’Hern were safely in the clubhouse with five under par rounds of 67.

That put them one ahead of Irish Ryder Cup hero Paul McGinley and Spain’s Santiago Luna.