Monty targets Jakarta victory

The destination may have changed for Colin Montgomerie but the target remains the same as he goes in search of the victory at the Indonesia Open which should gain him a place at next month’s Masters.

The Scot arrived in Jakarta after a sixth-place finish at the TCL China Classic prevented him from rejoining the world’s top 50, which would in turn have sent him to Florida for this week’s Players Championship.

Currently 54th in the world, this is the last chance for the seven-time European Order of Merit winner to qualify for Augusta – where he has played every year since 1992 – as the cut-off to reach the top 50 falls on Sunday evening.

“If I win here, I know that I’ll qualify so that’s the main goal, to try to focus here and try to win,” said the 41-year-old who sank the winning putt in the Ryder Cup at Oakland Hills last year.

“Then everything else will take care of itself. So there is no worry about the Masters.

“A win anywhere in the world is good, but winning the first ever European Tour event in Jakarta would be great.”

A second place may be enough to get back into the top 50, although it depends entirely on results at the Players Championship at Sawgrass.

Montgomerie, however, looked in good form in China and only a back nine short on birdies prevented him challenging for the title, won by Ryder Cup team-mate Paul Casey.

Even he believes he is now playing as well as when he dominated Europe in the last decade.

“I am pleased with my form. I used to be very consistent in the late 90s and this is the most consistent form I’ve had since then,” he added.

“My last few events, including two in America have been in the top-10. That’s good for me and that’s where I used to play and perform.

“I’m looking forward to another top-10 here or better. I didn’t perform in the last seven holes (last week) but we will try again this week. We’ll see how we go again but I’m confident of my performance.”

Montgomerie may well find his nearest challenger in this co-sanctioned event between the European and Asian Tours is Ryder Cup team-mate Paul McGinley, who lost a play-off to Casey last week.

The Irishman found form at the right time to shoot a closing round of 63 on Sunday and his confidence has been boosted by that.

“I came really close last week, I was the joint winner after 72 holes and there are positives to take from that,” he said.

“I’m comfortable playing in Asia, I’ve had another week of experience playing in Asian conditions in terms of the grain and the greens that we don’t have in Europe.”