Monty gets a raw deal

Colin Montgomerie
12 April 2012

The golfing Gods looked down on Colin Montgomerie in Inverness on Saturday and decided to make it as hard as possible for him to qualify for next week's Open.

Woken up at 4.30am by an almighty thunderclap, Montgomerie will hope to resume the deluge-hit Barclays Scottish Open on Sunday after no play was possible on the third day of the tournament.

It was revealed on Saturday afternoon that the tournament had been reduced from 72 to 54 holes for the first time in its history. And that was the last thing the eight-time European number one wanted to hear as he seeks the top-five finish he needs to extend his record of playing in every Open since 1989.

Montgomerie stood six under par overnight, joint 25th and five strokes behind his fellow Scots Peter Whiteford and Scott Jamieson and also Northern Ireland's Graeme McDowell.

"They are having a big, big laugh - I would be if I was one of them," he said. "I needed 72 and now I know there's no Monday qualifier for The Open we should be playing (here) Monday."

However, tournament director Mike Stewart stated: "We realised we were going to struggle with the weather today and the forecast is also poor for tomorrow. We just thought it was in the best interests of everyone concerned to reduce it to 54 holes."

As he spoke the greenkeeping staff remained hard at work trying to make the course playable and the conditions for spectators safe. Two fans suffered broken legs on Friday and because of a landslide during one of the overnight storms it was decided not to allow the crowd to watch on five of the holes down by the Moray Firth.

"I have been up in this area for a long time and we have courtesy car drivers who are 65 years old and haven't seen the like of this before," added Montgomerie.

"None of us has. It's very, very unfortunate for everyone concerned. A landslide - this land's been here for ever and it's never happened. This is extreme, incredible, just freak conditions, end of the world stuff."

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