Colin Montgomerie chips onto the No. 2green at Augusta National during the second round of the Masters Tournament Friday April 9, 1999. (Michael Holahan/The Augusta Chronicle)
Erratic Montgomerie keeps leader in sight
Web posted 04/10/99
Scotland's Colin Montgomerie had an eagle, along with three birdies over the final seven holes, to finish with an even-par 72 on Friday. He stands at 2-under-par for the tournament, six strokes behind Olazabal.
``At 2-under, you have a chance,'' said Montgomerie, who is looking for his first win in a major. ``I can't do anything about anybody else. I just have to score in the 60s (Saturday). If I can do that, then I'll be in contention for the weekend.''
After an errant drive into the trees on the right of the par-4 No. 3, Montgomerie holed a sand wedge from 90 yards out to kickstart his round.
``It is the CNN Shot of the Day, isn't it?'' he said. ``That was my first eagle here ever. I said to my wife that I'll never hole one with a putter here. It's too nerve-wracking.''
The eagle briefly moved Monty to the top of the leaderboard at 4-under. But bogeys on Nos. 4, 5 and 6 quickly dropped him to 1-under. Then he fell to 1-over with a double bogey on the par-4 No. 11.
``I three-putted the 6th,'' said Montgomerie, the No. 9 player in the World Golf Ranking. ``On 5, I went big right and couldn't get up-and-down. On 4, I went in the left-hand bunker and couldn't get my stance to get up-and-down there. And then on 11, I doubled there.''
But Montgomerie soon recovered by sinking a 20-foot birdie putt on No. 12. He added a 6-foot birdie on No. 14 to get back to 1-under for the tournament. On No. 18, he knocked a wedge to 10 feet and made birdie.
``I feel I'm playing well,'' Montgomerie said. ``I'm hitting the ball well enough. It's just a matter of taking the opportunities when they come and don't do anything silly like I did on 11.''
Last year, the 35-year-old Montgomerie won three times on the European Tour on the way to winning the tour's Order of Merit for the sixth consecutive year.
Also, he had his best finish at the Masters with a tie for eighth place.
To win this year's Masters, however, won't be a simple task especially with Olazabal in the lead.
``When he gets in that position, he's a very difficult man to dislodge,'' Montgomerie said.
