Montgomerie in position to win in America

Colin Montgomerie has a first strokeplay victory on American soil in his sights after a stunning opening round in the American Express Championship.

Just four days after ending a 19-month winless streak at St Andrews, Montgomerie left the world’s best trailing in his wake with a six-under-par 64 in the £4.2m (€6.1m) event at Harding Park in San Francisco.

It gave the 42-year-old Scot a three-shot lead over an 11-strong group including world number one Tiger Woods and Ryder Cup team-mates David Howell, Ian Poulter and Sergio Garcia.

And it further enhanced his chances of winning an incredible eighth Order of Merit title with nearest rival Michael Campbell – currently £85,000 (€124,000) ahead of Montgomerie – seven shots behind after an opening 71.

Montgomerie has never won a strokeplay tournament in America – although he did win the individual title at the World Cup in 1997 – most famously missing out on the 1994 US Open and 1995 USPGA in play-offs, and admitted: “I would love to win over here, there is no secret about that.

“Sunday gave me a lot of confidence. It was nice to win again, especially at St Andrews and I came over here with a lot more self-esteem and confidence than I had and proved it.

“If I had finished third or fourth on Sunday I would not have shot 64. It’s just the confidence factor, it has been a huge boost for my career. I am 42 now and supposed to be going downhill. It’s nice to go the other way.”

Montgomerie admitted part of him wanted to “do a Freddie Flintoff” to celebrate his victory rather than make the long journey to the west coast of America, but there were certainly no sign of over-indulgence on the course.

Starting on the 10th, the seven-time European number one took advantage of one of only two par fives on the course with an opening birdie, and picked up another shot on the 12th.

His round really sparked into life just before the turn however, a birdie from seven feet on the 16th followed by another on the par-three 17th where his tee shot finished just inches from the hole.

Another superb iron shot into the signature 18th made it three birdies in a row and took the Scot into the outright lead.

“I drove the ball well and if you put the ball in the fairway you can score,” added Montgomerie, who began the year ranked a lowly 81st in the world but is now 16th in the rankings. “It is a very good course and is going to play more difficult if the weather changes as it is forecast to so I am glad to get round in one piece.

“It’s tiring to come to the west coast with an eight-hour time difference but hopefully I can catch up on some sleep.”

Woods had four birdies and one bogey and declared himself content with his opening round after recovering from a rib injury suffered during the Presidents Cup a fortnight ago.

“Ifelt if I could shoot somewhere between two and four under par it would be pretty good,” Woods said. “Looking at the pin positions it is a pretty good score. For the first day they did a pretty good job of setting up the golf course.”

Luke Donald and Stephen Dodd are level par after rounds of 70, Nick Dougherty and Lee Westwood one over, Graeme McDowell and Bradley Dredge one under while Kenneth Ferrie – who let slip a five-shot lead in the final round on Sunday - could only manage a 74.

Ireland’s Paul McGinley finished three over and World Cup partner Padraig Harrington drove into the water on the 18th to run up a double bogey six and card a 74. Sheffield’s Neil Cheetham, playing alongside world number three Phil Mickelson, fared even worse with a 77.