Montgomerie Out of the British Open

A dismal performance at the Scottish Open on Sunday leaves the British Open without Colin Montgomerie as one of its top contenders. This will be the first time since 1989 that the veteran Scot will not be playing in the tournament.

Montgomerie needed a top five finish to be able to join the tournament happening in the following week in Sandwich. He did share the lead at par 5 no. 6 but this was followed by the disastrous double bogey on the short 11th, which came after the Scot missed the green with his tee shot which cost him his spot in the Open.

Montgomerie tried to get past bogeys 13 and 14 by making three straight birdies but these were not enough to get him to the Open, with a final round of just 70. He finished at eight under on Sunday, right on target that he had set for himself the day before and closed with a par 5 no. 2. He also scored another birdie at no. 6, which placed him along five others at the top of the leaderboards before finishing with a 10-under 206.

Montgomerie seemed deflated, but he was not down for long, saying, “It was going well and then I sort of ran out of puff,” he said. “It was always too soon, too short. So there you go. A week off next week.”

The Scot must wait until Lytham St, Anne’s in 2012 to get another chance at winning the Open. The eight-time European Order of Merit champion is still optimistic, despite this recent loss, saying, “We’ll have to start again, that’s all we’ve got.”