Monty in a spin again

Colin Montgomerie found himself in yet more discussions with a rules official today as he lost the lead in the Dunhill links championship to England’s Kenneth Ferrie.

Montgomerie, involved in real controversy over the replacing of a ball in Indonesia in March, had already been overtaken at the top when he hit trouble on the short 15th at Kingsbarns.

His tee shot failed to make the carry and finished on the edge of the rocks. From there his recovery skidded some 25 feet past the flag on to the exposed top edge of the green.

As the 42-year-old Scot prepared to attempt his par putt, he could see the ball was oscillating and stepped back. Seconds later it started rolling and came to rest around eight feet from the cup.

Not wanting to fall foul of the rules again – in March he gave his prize money to charity after seeing video of an incident which will never be forgotten by many of his fellow tour players – Montgomerie asked for a referee.

But after the situation was explained, he was allowed to play the ball as it lay.

Even from only a third of the distance of the original position, however, he missed the putt and dropped to nine under.

By bogeying the difficult 17th as well, Montgomerie – round St Andrews in a brilliant 65 yesterday – signed for a disappointing 73.

It put him eight under – while over at St Andrews Ferrie, who pushed Montgomerie into second place at the European Open in July, had charged to 13 under with three to play.

That lifted him into a four-stroke lead over Swede Henrik Stenson, who was himself a spectacular eight under for his first 15 holes at Kingsbarns.

“I didn’t play very well,” said Montgomerie.

“It was a difficult day, and I wasn’t quite concentrating when I missed the putt on the 15th.

“There was a moment when I thought ‘Oh no’, but if the wind had been blowing the other way it would have been in the ocean.

“I was confident I hadn’t addressed. But I called the referee, and he said it was okay.”

Ferrie had taken advantage of a similar incident to Montgomerie’s, the ball being blown much closer to the hole on the short 11th.

That was the Northumberland golfer’s fourth birdie of the day – and he picked up more shots on the 12th and 15th, was 12 under and three clear in the race for the first prize of nearly £450,000 (€660,000).

Montgomerie had switched from St Andrews to Kingsbarns after a sparkling 65 yesterday, but it was clear from early on he had not brought the same form with him.

There were birdies at the third and sixth, but also a three-putt bogey on the 398-yard fifth and another dropped shot at the short seventh where he went over the green and failed to get up and down.

Victory for Montgomerie would lift the seven-time European number one into second place on the Order of Merit behind Michael Campbell, absent this week just like Retief Goosen and Angel Cabrera who are currently in second and third spots.

Montgomerie would also go to the head of the Ryder Cup points table and be well on his way to an eighth cap at the K Club next September.

Moreover, it would take him into the world’s top 20 – after he droppd last year from 41st to 81st.

Ferrie’s highest finish on the Order of Merit was his 34th two years ago. But he currently stands 17th and if he won the celebrity pro-am – his partner was Olympic gold medal winner Jonathan Edwards, while Montgomerie was with Hollywood star Michael Douglas – he could move as high as eighth.