Clarke and Montgomerie set for showdown

13 April 2012

It was head-to-head between good friends, but great rivals Darren Clarke and Colin Montgomerie were paired in Spain - and both were relishing the prospect.  

Third and sixth respectively at the halfway stage of the Volvo Masters and second and sixth respectively in the race to be Europe's number one this season, the two Ryder Cup giants found themselves paired together in the third round at Montecastillo near Jerez.

With Order of Merit leader Lee Westwood down in 38th place when he resumed, Clarke and Montgomerie knew they had a golden opportunity to set up a thrilling climax involving all three next week.

The race ends with the American Express World Championship starting at Valderrama on Thursday and with a million-dollar first prize on offer there and over £330,000 to the winner on Sunday, Westwood's current advantage is in reality next to nothing.

The Worksop golfer leads Clarke by £47,000 and Montgomerie by £400,000, but that is all set to change dramatically as the finishing line comes into view.

For Montgomerie to win the Order of Merit for a stupendous eighth time in a row he may have to win both events, but he was only three strokes adrift of surprise halfway leader Pierre Fulke after holing-in-one during his second successive 69.

Clarke is only two behind the Swede and while best placed of the three at the moment he was asked if the presence of Montgomerie in his rear-view mirror was a cause of concern.

The Ulsterman was having none of that. And having beaten Hal Sutton, David Duval and Tiger Woods face-to-face in the Andersen Consulting world match play in California in February, who could blame him?

"I'm too long in the tooth to be intimidated by anybody - except perhaps my wife," he said.

"You know how volatile I am, but I feel very comfortable and the last time I felt so much at ease at La Costa." The week he claimed Woods's scalp.

After two 69s so far Montgomerie is looking to step up a gear now.

"Two 67s should be enough - and that hole-in-one tells me that it might just be my week," he commented. "It does not half-help the scorecard, especially when you're trying to win the tournament.

"It's got me back in the hunt. Things were not going well, but I was flying after that."

Westwood fans will be hoping he got out of bed on the right side this morning.

A 69, seven shots better than his first round, failed to change his pessimistic frame of mind, but he has turned things round quickly before and needs to do so again for his own good.

He remains the player they all have to catch on the Order of Merit, but in the tournament it is Fulke, winner of the Lancome Trophy in Paris last September and the Scottish PGA championship at Gleneagles this August.

At nine-under he is one ahead of Jose Maria Olazabal and two in front of not only Clarke, but also Australian Stephen Leaney and another Swede, Fredrik Jacobson.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in