Wind blows Monty off course

Colin Montgomerie matched his worst round in Europe for five years with a second-round 81 at the Spanish Open in windy Girona today.

Europe’s new Ryder Cup captain, who has not had a top 10 finish since he was runner-up in the French Open last June, tumbled out at halfway with a 36-hole total of 153, nine over par.

That put Montgomerie near the rear of the 150-strong field. He had sought a late invitation to the event after pulling out of last week’s tournament in South Korea to have a second cortisone injection on his right hand.

The 45-year-old Scot has already fallen to 160th in the world rankings and is likely to drop even further as a result of his early exit.

Montgomerie also had an 81 in last season’s British Masters at The Belfry, but his last round in Europe higher than that was an 82 in the 2004 European Open at The K Club in Kildare.

Resuming on level par he had two birdies, four bogeys and then a double bogey to turn in 41, recorded three more bogeys early on the back nine and finished with another double bogey six.

American John Daly, currently serving a six-month US tour ban and playing his first event since December, also had to tackle the swirling afternoon conditions, but battled to a 72 and two under aggregate.

That left him 11 adrift of leader Thomas Levet and the former Open champion commented: “It was brutal. You couldn’t make up any ground.

“There wasn’t any hole where you could feel comfortable. But I’m getting the weekend in and getting to play some more – it beats packing up and going to Italy.”

Daly is in Europe for the next month before returning to the US.