Birdie-birdie finish putsMonty in title hunt
FROM THE AOL GOLF NEWS SERVICE
Four days after his 45th birthday, Colin Montgomerie finally breathed new life into his career in Paris today.
FROM THE AOL GOLF NEWS SERVICE
Four days after his 45th birthday, Colin Montgomerie finally breathed new life into his career in Paris today.
Montgomerie, in a year that has seen him fall out of the world's top 100 for the first time since 1990, birdied the final two holes of his second round of the French Open to join Lee Westwood in third place - two shots behind England's David Lynn and Spanish rookie Pablo Larrazabal.
The eight-time European No 1 hit a five-iron to four feet, then an eight-iron over water to seven feet, holing both putts, to finish in real style and when asked if he felt good about the weekend, he replied "very good."
The big Scot, pictured above, added: "If I can be patient and hole a fair share then I have a chance. I had 16 holes of utter, utter frustration and I hate to say the birdies were deserved, but the way I played that was the very minimum I deserved.
"That was as good as I can play from tee to green. I've hit 33 greens in regulation out of 36 round here, which is back to the way that I used to play and win tournaments - through lack of mistakes.
"It wasn't the amount of putts that I holed, it was the amount of mistakes I didn't make. That's good, that's the way that I like to play golf."
Westwood, meanwhile, is looking good to make instant amends for his US Open near-miss - and to give himself the perfect boost ahead of The Open.
Like Montgomerie, Westwood has also been easy to spot on the opening two days. He was standing on the fairway while others almost literally disappeared into the hay.
He has yet to lift a trophy this year, but his confidence is sky-high and it went up another notch with his bogey-free 68.
Qualifier Larrazabal, one in front after his opening 65, was in the first group out at 7.30am, while Lynn did not finish until nearly 12 hours later and made it a tie at the top by sinking a bunker shot at the last for a superb 65.
Westwood, playing his first tournament since going so close to his first major victory at the US Open two weeks ago, defied the blustery conditions to add a bogey-free 68 to his opening 69 at Le Golf National near Paris.
In joint 17th place overnight he shot up into a tie for second place at halfway on 137 with Angel Cabrera, Ignacio Garrido, Peter Lawrie and Colin Montgomerie.
They were two shots behind the joint leaders, Larrazabal and Englishman David Lynn.
The 25-year-old Larrazabal from Barcelona led by one overnight following a six under par 65 and marched four clear when he began the back nine with three birdies in four holes.
Then, however, Larrazabal failed to get up and down after missing the 16th green. He three-putted the next, being forced to settle for a 70 and a seven under par aggregate of 135 as a result.
Victory for Westwood would almost certainly see him leap over Miguel Angel Jimenez and Robert Karlsson to the top of the Order of Merit.
The only other Scots apart from Monty to make the halfway cut on level par 144 were Paul Lawrie, who did it with nothing to spare, thanks to a par-matching 71 today, and Andrew Coltart who went backwards with a 76 for the same mark.
SECOND-ROUND TOTALS
Par 142 (2 x 71)
135 David Lynn 70 65, Pablo Larrazabal (Spa) 65 70.
137 Colin Montgomerie 69 68, Ignacio Garrido (Spa) 68 69, Angel Cabrera (Arg) 67 70, Peter Lawrie 66 71, Lee Westwood 69 68.
138 Shiv Kapur (Ind) 75 63, Soren Hansen (Den) 69 69, Paul Broadhurst 69 69, Graeme Storm 68 70.
139 Hennie Otto (Rsa) 70 69, Carl Suneson (Spa) 72 67, Miles Tunnicliff 68 71, Oliver Fisher 66 73.
140 Michael Jonzon (Swe) 68 72, Alejandro Canizares (Spa) 71 69, Rafael Echenique (Arg) 69 71, Maarten Lafeber (Ned) 73 67, Simon Dyson 70 70
141 Steve Webster 73 68, Martin Erlandsson (Swe) 68 73, Jamie Donaldson 68 73, Tom Whitehouse 71 70, Markus Brier (Aut) 70 71, John Bickerton 72 69, Jose Manuel Lara (Spa) 68 73
142 Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind) 68 74, Mikael Lundberg (Swe) 71 71, Mikko Ilonen (Fin) 71 71, Graeme McDowell 69 73, Nick Dougherty 71 71, Gregory Bourdy (Fra) 70 72
143 Francesco Molinari (Ita) 68 75, Soren Kjeldsen (Den) 72 71, David Frost (Rsa) 69 74, Thongchai Jaidee (Tha) 70 73, Robert Karlsson (Swe) 72 71, Felipe Aguilar (Chi) 74 69, Gonzalo Fdez-Castano (Spa) 74 69, Gregory Havret (Fra) 73 70, Charl Schwartzel (Rsa) 73 70, Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa) 70 73, Andrew McLardy (Rsa) 72 71, Rick Kulacz (Aus) 72 71, Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa) 72 71, Jean Van de velde (Fra) 71 72, Phillip Archer 69 74, Peter O'Malley (Aus) 71 72
144 Ross Fisher 73 71, Danny Willett 74 70, Ricardo Gonzalez (Arg) 72 72, Peter Hanson (Swe) 71 73, Sebastien Delagrange (Fra) 72 72, Scott Barr (Aus) 75 69, Martin Wiegele (Aut) 68 76, Jarmo Sandelin (Swe) 74 70, Andrew Coltart 68 76, Raphael Jacquelin (Fra) 71 73, Alvaro Quiros (Spa) 70 74, Daniel Vancsik (Arg) 69 75, Paul Lawrie 73 71, Ian Poulter 72 72, Richard Green (Aus) 73 71, Paul McGinley 71 73, Barry Lane 68 76, Thomas Levet (Fra) 75 69, Jyoti Randhawa (Ind) 70 74.
MISSED THE CUT
145 Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (Fra) 72 73, Benn Barham 71 74, Darren Clarke 72 73, Carlos Rodiles (Spa) 69 76, Magnus A Carlsson (Swe) 74 71, Stephen Dodd 70 75, Richard Finch 70 75, Alastair Forsyth 72 73, Marcus Fraser (Aus) 77 68, Bradley Dredge 75 70
146 Damien McGrane 72 74, Henrik Nystrom (Swe) 71 75, Robert Dinwiddie 74 72, Chapchai Nirat (Tha) 71 75, Martin Kaymer (Ger) 76 70, Mads Vibe-Hastrup (Den) 72 74, Simon Wakefield 71 75
147 Jose-Filipe Lima (Por) 75 72, Christian Cevaer (Fra) 72 75, Patrik Sjoland (Swe) 73 74, Gary Orr 74 73, Marc Warren 75 72, Per-Ulrik Johansson (Swe) 70 77, Stuart Manley 73 74
148 Robert Jan Derksen (Ned) 72 76, Peter Whiteford 74 74, David Howell 73 75, Matthew Millar (Aus) 77 71, Johan Edfors (Swe) 72 76, Rory McIlroy 73 75, Romain Wattel (Fra) 75 73, Jean-Francois Remesy (Fra) 75 73, Philip Golding 69 79, Stephen Gallacher 75 73.
149 Garry Houston 75 74, Scott Strange (Aus) 71 78, Julien Quesne (Fra) 77 72, Fredrik Andersson Hed (Swe) 72 77, Gareth Paddison (Nzl) 72 77, Sam Walker 74 75, Thomas Bjorn (Den) 77 72, Emanuele Canonica (Ita) 73 76
150 Michael Lorenzo-Vera (Fra) 73 77, James Kingston (Rsa) 75 75, Ariel Canete (Arg) 79 71, Sam Little 73 77, Mardan Mamat (Sin) 75 75, Cedric Menut (Fra) 75 75, Simon Khan 78 72
151 Alvaro Velasco (Spa) 75 76, Anders Hansen (Den) 73 78, Alexander Noren (Swe) 77 74, Daniel Brooks 75 76, Adrien Mork (Fra) 81 70, Frederic Cupillard (Fra) 78 73, Ross McGowan 81 70
152 Miguel Angel Martin (Spa) 73 79, Lea Cooper 76 76, Mark Foster 78 74
153 Francois Delamontagne (Fra) 77 76, Fabrizio Zanotti (Par) 76 77, Francois Calmels (Fra) 79 74
154 David Dixon 78 76, Phillip Price 77 77, Malcolm MacKenzie 77 77, Shiv Shankar Prasad Chowrasia (Ind) 75 79, Richard Sterne (Rsa) 77 77
155 Anton Haig (Rsa) 79 76, Gary Murphy 73 82
156 Olivier David (Fra) 76 80, Anthony Wall 77 79, David Griffiths 78 78, James Kamte (Rsa) 78 78, Edoardo Molinari (Ita) 75 81
157 Oliver Wilson 76 81, Lief Westberg (Swe) 73 84.
158 Pedro Linhart (Spa) 83 75, Scott Drummond 80 78, Mark Brown (USA) 77 81
159 Jean-Francois Lucquin (Fra) 75 84
The eight-time European No 1 hit a five-iron to four feet, then an eight-iron over water to seven feet, holing both putts, to finish in real style and when asked if he felt good about the weekend, he replied "very good."
The big Scot, pictured above, added: "If I can be patient and hole a fair share then I have a chance. I had 16 holes of utter, utter frustration and I hate to say the birdies were deserved, but the way I played that was the very minimum I deserved.
"That was as good as I can play from tee to green. I've hit 33 greens in regulation out of 36 round here, which is back to the way that I used to play and win tournaments - through lack of mistakes.
"It wasn't the amount of putts that I holed, it was the amount of mistakes I didn't make. That's good, that's the way that I like to play golf."
Westwood, meanwhile, is looking good to make instant amends for his US Open near-miss - and to give himself the perfect boost ahead of The Open.
Like Montgomerie, Westwood has also been easy to spot on the opening two days. He was standing on the fairway while others almost literally disappeared into the hay.
He has yet to lift a trophy this year, but his confidence is sky-high and it went up another notch with his bogey-free 68.
Qualifier Larrazabal, one in front after his opening 65, was in the first group out at 7.30am, while Lynn did not finish until nearly 12 hours later and made it a tie at the top by sinking a bunker shot at the last for a superb 65.
Westwood, playing his first tournament since going so close to his first major victory at the US Open two weeks ago, defied the blustery conditions to add a bogey-free 68 to his opening 69 at Le Golf National near Paris.
In joint 17th place overnight he shot up into a tie for second place at halfway on 137 with Angel Cabrera, Ignacio Garrido, Peter Lawrie and Colin Montgomerie.
They were two shots behind the joint leaders, Larrazabal and Englishman David Lynn.
The 25-year-old Larrazabal from Barcelona led by one overnight following a six under par 65 and marched four clear when he began the back nine with three birdies in four holes.
Then, however, Larrazabal failed to get up and down after missing the 16th green. He three-putted the next, being forced to settle for a 70 and a seven under par aggregate of 135 as a result.
Victory for Westwood would almost certainly see him leap over Miguel Angel Jimenez and Robert Karlsson to the top of the Order of Merit.
The only other Scots apart from Monty to make the halfway cut on level par 144 were Paul Lawrie, who did it with nothing to spare, thanks to a par-matching 71 today, and Andrew Coltart who went backwards with a 76 for the same mark.
SECOND-ROUND TOTALS
Par 142 (2 x 71)
135 David Lynn 70 65, Pablo Larrazabal (Spa) 65 70.
137 Colin Montgomerie 69 68, Ignacio Garrido (Spa) 68 69, Angel Cabrera (Arg) 67 70, Peter Lawrie 66 71, Lee Westwood 69 68.
138 Shiv Kapur (Ind) 75 63, Soren Hansen (Den) 69 69, Paul Broadhurst 69 69, Graeme Storm 68 70.
139 Hennie Otto (Rsa) 70 69, Carl Suneson (Spa) 72 67, Miles Tunnicliff 68 71, Oliver Fisher 66 73.
140 Michael Jonzon (Swe) 68 72, Alejandro Canizares (Spa) 71 69, Rafael Echenique (Arg) 69 71, Maarten Lafeber (Ned) 73 67, Simon Dyson 70 70
141 Steve Webster 73 68, Martin Erlandsson (Swe) 68 73, Jamie Donaldson 68 73, Tom Whitehouse 71 70, Markus Brier (Aut) 70 71, John Bickerton 72 69, Jose Manuel Lara (Spa) 68 73
142 Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind) 68 74, Mikael Lundberg (Swe) 71 71, Mikko Ilonen (Fin) 71 71, Graeme McDowell 69 73, Nick Dougherty 71 71, Gregory Bourdy (Fra) 70 72
143 Francesco Molinari (Ita) 68 75, Soren Kjeldsen (Den) 72 71, David Frost (Rsa) 69 74, Thongchai Jaidee (Tha) 70 73, Robert Karlsson (Swe) 72 71, Felipe Aguilar (Chi) 74 69, Gonzalo Fdez-Castano (Spa) 74 69, Gregory Havret (Fra) 73 70, Charl Schwartzel (Rsa) 73 70, Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa) 70 73, Andrew McLardy (Rsa) 72 71, Rick Kulacz (Aus) 72 71, Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa) 72 71, Jean Van de velde (Fra) 71 72, Phillip Archer 69 74, Peter O'Malley (Aus) 71 72
144 Ross Fisher 73 71, Danny Willett 74 70, Ricardo Gonzalez (Arg) 72 72, Peter Hanson (Swe) 71 73, Sebastien Delagrange (Fra) 72 72, Scott Barr (Aus) 75 69, Martin Wiegele (Aut) 68 76, Jarmo Sandelin (Swe) 74 70, Andrew Coltart 68 76, Raphael Jacquelin (Fra) 71 73, Alvaro Quiros (Spa) 70 74, Daniel Vancsik (Arg) 69 75, Paul Lawrie 73 71, Ian Poulter 72 72, Richard Green (Aus) 73 71, Paul McGinley 71 73, Barry Lane 68 76, Thomas Levet (Fra) 75 69, Jyoti Randhawa (Ind) 70 74.
MISSED THE CUT
145 Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (Fra) 72 73, Benn Barham 71 74, Darren Clarke 72 73, Carlos Rodiles (Spa) 69 76, Magnus A Carlsson (Swe) 74 71, Stephen Dodd 70 75, Richard Finch 70 75, Alastair Forsyth 72 73, Marcus Fraser (Aus) 77 68, Bradley Dredge 75 70
146 Damien McGrane 72 74, Henrik Nystrom (Swe) 71 75, Robert Dinwiddie 74 72, Chapchai Nirat (Tha) 71 75, Martin Kaymer (Ger) 76 70, Mads Vibe-Hastrup (Den) 72 74, Simon Wakefield 71 75
147 Jose-Filipe Lima (Por) 75 72, Christian Cevaer (Fra) 72 75, Patrik Sjoland (Swe) 73 74, Gary Orr 74 73, Marc Warren 75 72, Per-Ulrik Johansson (Swe) 70 77, Stuart Manley 73 74
148 Robert Jan Derksen (Ned) 72 76, Peter Whiteford 74 74, David Howell 73 75, Matthew Millar (Aus) 77 71, Johan Edfors (Swe) 72 76, Rory McIlroy 73 75, Romain Wattel (Fra) 75 73, Jean-Francois Remesy (Fra) 75 73, Philip Golding 69 79, Stephen Gallacher 75 73.
149 Garry Houston 75 74, Scott Strange (Aus) 71 78, Julien Quesne (Fra) 77 72, Fredrik Andersson Hed (Swe) 72 77, Gareth Paddison (Nzl) 72 77, Sam Walker 74 75, Thomas Bjorn (Den) 77 72, Emanuele Canonica (Ita) 73 76
150 Michael Lorenzo-Vera (Fra) 73 77, James Kingston (Rsa) 75 75, Ariel Canete (Arg) 79 71, Sam Little 73 77, Mardan Mamat (Sin) 75 75, Cedric Menut (Fra) 75 75, Simon Khan 78 72
151 Alvaro Velasco (Spa) 75 76, Anders Hansen (Den) 73 78, Alexander Noren (Swe) 77 74, Daniel Brooks 75 76, Adrien Mork (Fra) 81 70, Frederic Cupillard (Fra) 78 73, Ross McGowan 81 70
152 Miguel Angel Martin (Spa) 73 79, Lea Cooper 76 76, Mark Foster 78 74
153 Francois Delamontagne (Fra) 77 76, Fabrizio Zanotti (Par) 76 77, Francois Calmels (Fra) 79 74
154 David Dixon 78 76, Phillip Price 77 77, Malcolm MacKenzie 77 77, Shiv Shankar Prasad Chowrasia (Ind) 75 79, Richard Sterne (Rsa) 77 77
155 Anton Haig (Rsa) 79 76, Gary Murphy 73 82
156 Olivier David (Fra) 76 80, Anthony Wall 77 79, David Griffiths 78 78, James Kamte (Rsa) 78 78, Edoardo Molinari (Ita) 75 81
157 Oliver Wilson 76 81, Lief Westberg (Swe) 73 84.
158 Pedro Linhart (Spa) 83 75, Scott Drummond 80 78, Mark Brown (USA) 77 81
159 Jean-Francois Lucquin (Fra) 75 84
160 Benoit Teilleria (Fra) 76 84.
161 Francois-Romain Rouilleaux (Fra) 80 81.
161 Francois-Romain Rouilleaux (Fra) 80 81.
169 Pablo Martin (Spa) 85 84
171 Cedric Judlin (Fra) 85 86
171 Cedric Judlin (Fra) 85 86
Retired: Simon Griffiths 73
Withdrew: Sven Struver (Ger) 80
Withdrew: Sven Struver (Ger) 80
Labels: EUROPEAN TOUR
posted by Colin |
See story on its own page | Friday, June 27, 2008
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