Monty rues Shanghai surprise

Colin Montgomerie was left to rue a last-hole blunder in the first round of the BMW Asian Open in Shanghai.

Montgomerie was looking to join Sweden’s Henrik Stenson at the top of the leaderboard with a closing birdie, but found water with his approach to the par-five ninth.

Starting from the 10th, the eight-time Order of Merit winner had carded four birdies and 13 pars before that solitary bogey forced him to settle for an opening 69, three under par.

Stenson, who at 15th in the world rankings is one place ahead of Montgomerie, carded a 67 to hold a one-shot lead over France’s Jean Van de Velde and Scotland’s Stephen Gallacher.

Montgomerie is in a six-way tie for fourth place with Denmark’s Thomas Bjorn, Australia’s Marcus Fraser, Filipino Frankie Minoza, Ireland’s Peter Lawrie and Korea’s Charlie Wi.

“Yes, it was disappointing at the last there,” said the 42-year-old Scot.

“I was in a position to take the lead and then I messed it up, which is very disappointing. It was very poor at the last hole.”

Stenson is hoping to return to winning ways after finishing a disappointing 20th at last week’s Volvo China Open in Beijing. He also missed the cut at the BellSouth Classic and the US Masters earlier this month.

“I felt really good on the back nine and I had birdie chances on every hole and managed to knock in a few,” said the 30-year-old Swede, who won the Qatar Masters in January.

“I was quite happy with the front nine. I hit a couple of bad shots but overall I felt it was a better round of golf today than the last couple of tournaments I played.

“Hopefully we are moving in the right direction. Hopefully, I will keep it up tomorrow.”

Asked whether he felt under pressure being the highest-ranked player in the field, Stenson added: “I am just trying to focus on my game.

“I don’t know whether that makes a difference or not whether you are the highest-ranked player. I just hope to have a good week and go out there and try to be in the hunt on Sunday.”

Van de Velde considered quitting the game following a serious knee injury, but is now chasing his second victory in a month following his win in the Madeira Island Open.

“The greens are extremely good. I mean they are fantastic really,” said Van de Velde, famous for blowing a three-shot lead on the final hole of the Open at Carnoustie in 1999.

“I thought it was going to be a tough test. When I teed up this morning I knew this was the moment to try to put it together.

“Everything went according to plan. I have been playing really good since I came back last year. It’s a matter of putting runs together and being patient and lucky.”

England’s Nick Faldo struggled despite the perfect conditions, carding a two-over-par 74.

India’s Jeev Milka Singh, winner last week in Beijing, returned a 72.