Sad Colin's sob story

Jul 6 2008 Euan Mclean

WINDSWEPT Colin Montgomerie's Ryder Cup bid blew off course yesterday as a horror finish wrecked his European Open title defence.

The frustrated Scot desperately needs to start winning to rescue his hopes of qualifying for Nick Faldo's European line-up for Valhalla in September.

But yesterday's calamitous closing three holes ensures he won't get a sniff of silverware today.

Deep rough on 16, overshooting the green on 17 and finding water with his wayward tee shot down the last turned a decent round into a painful 73 that drops Monty back another shot to six under.

It leaves him 10 shots adrift of leader Ross Fisher heading into today's final round and now all Monty can hope for is to haul himself into the top 10 and rescue valuable ranking points.

Afterwards huffy Monty was too angry to stop and reflect on his fading hopes and gave reporters the brush-off in his usual unintentionally comic fashion.

After dramatically tossing his ball into a wheelie bin beside the scorer's hut he stormed off saying: "I'm not the story, I'm not the story, I'm not the story."

Well he's a better golfer than sports editor because Monty's deepening struggle to make it to the Ryder Cup IS a story that could become the soap opera of summer.

While his charge faded another Ryder Cup hopeful in Graeme McDowell took his bid to push from the edge of the top 10 qualifying slots into the thick of the reckoning another huge step forward.

The Irishman is just one place outside automatic selection but looks set to surge up the board as he sits in second spot on 13 under.

Yet he still came off the course cursing a nightmare final hole as he found water with his tee shot and had to scramble to limit the damage to a bogey.

Fisher, meanwhile, looks to have tightened his grip on the £400,000winner's cheque with an excellent 69 that takes him to 16 under.

It's the first time he has led a tournament since day one but the Englishman is no rookie when it comes to topping the board going into the last round.

Last year he led on Saturday night at the BMW PGA Championship on his home course Wentworth only to blow up spectacularly. This time he insists the harsh lesson has made him mentally better equipped to close out victory today.

Fisher said: "Wentworth was bitterly disappointing and one of those days when nothing went right.

"But I took a lot from it and I feel I have since learned how to get over the final hurdle."

Sergio Garcia blasted the boozy fans who put him off his stroke after a poor 74 sent his bid for glory lurching off the rails.

The Spaniard was one under for the day when he shanked a horrible drive off the 13th tee then rounded on the idiots who shouted at the top of his backswing. That condemned him to a double-bogey six he never recovered from, slipping to seven under for the week.

Garcia groaned: "It was three guys and they must have been drunk as always. It rattled me a little and I lost some momentum.

"I'm so disappointed because I felt I was doing well. That double on 13 put me a little bit behind.

"Whether I can catch up now depends on the weather but I want a good finish to get as many Ryder Cup points as I can."

Stephen Gallacher is top Scot, one ahead of Monty on seven under after holding his game together in the tough windy conditions to shoot a solid one-under 71.

Gallacher revealed his confidence is growing every day and he aims to take the momentum into thisweek's Barclays Scottish Open.

He said: "It was a really tough day when you had to be patient and take it on the chin when things inevitably went wrong.

"Anything par or better out there is a good round so I'm happy.

"I've been hitting it well all week and putting not bad so hopefully there will be a knock-on effect I can take into Loch Lomond."

Padraig Harrington mastered the blustery conditions with an excellent three-under 69 then claimed it was the best possible preparation for defending The Open title in a fortnight.

The Irishman is still too far back on five-under par to mount a challenge for victory today but reckons his game is in better shape than last year when he geared up for his first Major win at Carnoustie.

He said: "This is good preparation for The Open as the ball bounces and it is firm around the greens. This is as close a parkland course will get to links golf when the wind is up like that.

"It was really blowing - I had a pitching wedge going into 15 and had to aim 50 yards off the green.

"I also had a lot of cross wind putts, where you had to judge by the breeze rather than the line.

"But my game is far better than at any stage last year. I rate my form on how I play tee to green and it is far better.

"I always struggle in May and June but last year I won the Irish Open then had an awful six weeks before Carnoustie."