Montgomerie, Westwood happy to be out of spotlight

Finishing 10th and 34th in the Scottish Open is not exactly something that will have Tiger Woods and the rest shaking in their boots as they arrive for the Open.

But Lee Westwood and Colin Montgomerie head to Royal Troon with hopes high - and glad that the spotlight will not be on them as much as it has been in past years.

Westwood had a closing 65 at Loch Lomond, but it still left him four strokes behind winner Thomas Levet.

“We’ve had Henmania and that’s enough,” said the 31-year-old.

“Just keep it low-key, stay out of the way and not get caught up in the hype. It’s probably the one time you shouldn’t do any interviews, but people who don’t cover golf week-in week-out suddenly turn up and want a piece of you.

“This year I’m not doing any and going into it fresh. I’m going to be reclusive.”

Going into it with confidence high makes a change too. When Westwood made the cut in last month’s US Open it was the first time he had played all four rounds in a Major since the 2002 Masters.

With a three-year-old son and another baby due at the start of September, the former European number one, runner-up at the European Open eight days ago, has now got his career back on track.

From world number four, he crashed outside the top 250, but now he looks a near-certainty to keep his Ryder Cup place in two months’ time and that is good news for captain Bernhard Langer.

Montgomerie wants to prove he can still compete at the top level as well after 10 weeks dominated by the break-up of his marriage.

Forgetting that on Saturday his 76 was the worst round of anybody, the 41-year-old took the positives out of playing the other three rounds of the Scottish Open in nine under and he knows that nobody knows Royal Troon better than him.

It is the club where his father was secretary and where he has played since he was first allowed on at the age of 16.

He believes he has never, even in practice, scored lower than “mid-60s”, but sees that as an indication not of how difficult he in particular finds it, but how tough it is for everybody.

Asked if it was time for a European to win a Major again – the last was Paul Lawrie at the 1999 Open – Montgomerie replied: “Definitely. It’s time for a Scottish winner and you are talking to him!”

A French winner does not sound as ridiculous now as it would have done six years ago.

First there was Jean Van de Velde, who but for a triple bogey on the last would have lifted the Claret Jug instead of Lawrie, and in 2002 Levet went five holes of a play-off before losing to Ernie Els.

Now Levet has beaten Els and a host of other stars to become Scottish Open champion, the third victory by a Frenchman on the European Tour in the last four weeks.

It was some win too. Levet was seven behind with a round to go, but fired a 63 that equalled the lowest round of his career and was one outside the Loch Lomond course record.

He beat New Zealander Michael Campbell by one and Els and David Howell by two.

As well as putting him into the British Open, it lifted Levet into the top 10 of the Ryder Cup standings and it forced him to make a quick dash for home, pack some new clothes and fly back to Scotland.

He did not have any accommodation booked, but nobody could be happier to be involved in a search for a room.

“A win is a win, but playing in the (British) Open is something else,” he said with tears in his eyes.