Monty praises Scottish Open links venue

Praiseworthy: Monty has paid tribute to the decision to move the Scottish Open north to Castle Stuart

Scot pays tribute to ‘vision’ of event organisers to head North

As the Scottish Open settles into its new venue on the banks of the Moray Firth, the country’s eight-time European Order of Merit winner, Colin Montgomerie, has praised the foresight of the event organisers in bringing the tournament to the Highland links of Castle Stuart.

“It’s very exciting and all credit to Barclays for bringing it up north,” said Montgomerie on the eve of play.

“The ticket sales I hear are ahead of Loch Lomond, which is amazing to think that we are not in the central belt of Scotland where the population is. So all credit to everybody for having the vision to bring it up here and we all look forward to it.

Montgomerie, who in 1996 won the Loch Lomond World Invitiational – an event which would later evolve into the Scottish Open – stated that he thought it was crucial that the tournament would be staged on a links course in the week before the Open Championship.

“I think the reason that we are here is because of the strength of the field, the quality of the field, wanting to improve before an Open Championship, and I think he’s got it almost right that the number of players that were not playing at Loch Lomond on a so-called clay court before a grass court major,” said the 2010 Ryder Cup captain, echoing the feelings of Phil Mickelson, Luke Donald and Lee Westwood, who had faced the media in the press tent before him.

“So at least we are playing on two grass courts now. If you can understand the analogy.”

Considering the Scottish Open as the precursor to next week’s major at Royal St George’s, Montgomerie was reminded that he needs at least a top-five finish this week if he’s to qualify for his 22^nd Open.

“If I can qualify for The Open, if I can finish in the top 5, not just the top 5 – you saw last week that second place didn’t make it. In fact, first place didn’t make it,” said Monty, alluding to the French Open winner Thomas Levet, who broke his shin as he celebrated his victory by jumping into the lake on the 18^th.

“We’ll see what happens, but it’s a challenge and I don’t want to miss The Open, I really don’t. It’s the last throw of the dice here. 21 years in a row I’ve played in The Open and not having won it, you’ve got to find a way of qualifying somehow. 21 years in a row – I’m proud of that.

“So I’d like to not have that record broken, but it’s a challenge, believe me and we’ll see how we golf but I’m looking forward.”

The European captain was hopeful that playing alongside two members of his victorious team would propel him towards that final Open berth.

“I’ve got a good draw with Luke Donald, No.1 in the world and Peter Hanson, two of my Ryder Cup Team, and I’m looking forward to playing alongside them and hopefully they can pull me along to bigger and better things.

Looking beyond next week’s Open in Sandwich, 48-year-old Montgomerie reiterated his ambition to get back into the world’s top-50 before he is eligible to play on the Seniors circuit.

“As I said, I gave myself two years to get back into the Top-50 in the world. Now, that would not be realistic over one year but two years, I feel, okay, if I can keep on sort of motivating myself to get there, that’s the goal at the end of the day. I’m not unrealistic. I’m not talking about Top-10s or whatever in the world. Top-50 in the world.
“I feel if I can play well for the next year and a half, I can achieve that, and that would be good from 420. As I say, I started when I was Ryder Cup captain, I started at 47 in the world, and finished outside the top 400.

“That shows what that did to my career for those two years and I want to try to get back from that 400 position back into top 50. That’s the goal that we have right now.”

Bryce Ritchie is the Editor of bunkered and, in addition to leading on content and strategy, oversees all aspects of the brand. The first full-time journalist employed by bunkered, he joined the company in 2001 and has been editor since 2009. A member of Balfron Golfing Society, he currently plays off nine and once got a lesson from Justin Thomas’ dad.

Editor of bunkered