Montgomerie fifth after charge

Colin Montgomerie birdied four of the first five holes to charge into joint fourth place in the Smurfit European Open at the K Club west of Dublin today.

But the 42-year-old Scot was still six adrift of overnight pacesetter Thomas Bjorn, the Dane standing eight under par and four clear of second-placed pair Jonathan Lomas and Raphael Jacquelin.

Montgomerie went into the water at the seventh and double-bogeyed to drop to level par.

Darren Clarke’s bogey, double bogey start put him one over and out of it as well, but Spaniard Jose Manuel Lara birdied the first three holes and climbed to three under and joint third.

That was because Lomas had bogeyed the first. Bjorn looked like doing the same after hooking his opening drive into thick rough, but he saved par with a pitch to within three feet.

Hartlepool’s Graeme Storm sank a bunker shot at the short third to be in the group on three under and fellow north-east golfer Kenneth Ferrie birdied the second and third to be on the same mark.

Bjorn's opening drive was a sign of thins to come. He hooked again into worse trouble on the second and got out of it with a bogey only when his fourth shot hit the flagstick and stopped by the hole.

Short of the green at the 170-yard next he could not save par again and with Jacquelin making three pars the gap was down to two.

Montgomerie, meanwhile, was back up to sixth on two under, now only four behind, when he added further birdies at the ninth and 10th. He is now tied in fifth place on -2.

Damien McGrane is best of the irish after nine holes on par. He is tied in 10th position.

Latest leaderboard:

1 BJÖRN -7 6

2 JACQUELIN -5 6

T3 O'HERN -3 8

T3 STORM -3 7

T5 COLTART -2 6

T5 FERRIE -2 8

T5 LARA -2 9

T5 LOMAS -2 6

T5 MONTGOMERIE -2 14

T10 GREEN 0 8