Struggle Is Personal for Montgomerie

He crossed the international dateline three times in the last month and Colin Montgomerie figures it has helped his golf game.

“I play better when I’m half asleep,” he said.

Next, maybe he should try playing in his pajamas.

Anyway, someday soon, Montgomerie is going to wake up and it’s going to be next year, which will be good news. He may play better when he’s sleepy, but he certainly plays worse when he has personal problems, such as his divorce, so the 41-year-old Scot is poised to flip the calendar as soon as possible.

Montgomerie’s ranking has been in free-fall, all the way down to 79th, and that’s uncharted territory for Europe’s perennial Ryder Cup star and seven-time leading money winner.

In the public world of professional golf, there may be no other player whose emotional frailties and inability to mask them are greater than his. He said there has been nothing technically wrong with his golf game, only how his personal life had affected it.

“The primary reason for me sliding down ... was getting divorced, OK? Obviously, you don’t have that emotion in your game, but when you’re playing out in public, it’s very, very difficult to concentrate on what one’s doing.”

Even so, Montgomerie didn’t have any problems Friday as he negotiated his way around Sherwood Country Club, shooting a five-under-par 66 to hold a share of the second-round lead of the Target World Challenge with Tiger Woods at nine-under 133.

Montgomerie birdied five of the first seven holes and chipped in at the par-five 16th to lead Woods by two, but Woods birdied the par-three 17th and Montgomerie bogeyed the 18th.

Woods also shot a 66 and stayed close to Montgomerie when he birdied five holes in a six-hole stretch.

Jay Haas, who had a 66, and Jim Furyk, who had a 68, are two shots off the lead at seven-under 135 in the $5.25-million tournament, the last event in pro golf until 2005.

The end probably can’t come soon enough for Montgomerie, even though the holiday season isn’t something he’s looking forward to.

“Holidays, I don’t have holidays,” he said. “Holidays [are] a nightmare.”

Montgomerie’s ranking is so low that he wouldn’t be playing this week if Woods hadn’t invited him with a special exemption.

When they are paired today for the third round, it will be far removed from the first time they were in the same grouping, in the third round of the 1997 Masters. Before that round, the outspoken Montgomerie said Woods might be vulnerable for his lack of experience in majors.

Woods shot a 65, Montgomerie a 74. The next day, when Woods won his first major title with a 69, Montgomerie had an 81.

“Monty and I became friends after,” Woods said. “But at the time, I said, ‘You know what, he hadn’t won a major, either? So we are on the same ground.’ But that’s then. Monty is a good friend of mine now.”

In the years since, Montgomerie has developed a reputation as an easy target for hecklers, but Woods said it’s a flaw Montgomerie can correct.

“Sometimes he hears a little too much,” Woods said. “We all hear these things, trust me. You just have to ignore it. Put your head down and go about your business.”

As for Montgomerie, his long-term goal is to improve his ranking and his goal today is to play better than Woods.

“I’m not going to outdrive him, I’m not going to hit better iron shots, I’m not going to chip the ball better and I’m not going to putt better,” he said. “The only way I’m going to beat Tiger is by scoring well.”

Montgomerie says he believes he’s a top-20 player.

“Being 79 is no fun,” he said. I’ve got to get up that world ranking ... obviously I feel that’s in me. It’s just a matter of going out and proving it.”

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Leaderboard

Second-round scores from the Target World Challenge at Sherwood Country Club. Purse: $5.25 million. Yardage: 6,933 yards; Par: 71

*--* Colin Montgomerie 67-66--133 -9 Tiger Woods 67-66--133 -9 Jay Haas 69-66--135 -7 Jim Furyk 67-68--135 -7 Davis Love III 70-66--136 -6 Chris DiMarco 69-67--136 -6 M. Angel Jimenez 68-69--137 -5 Padraig Harrington 68-69--137 -5 Chad Campbell 70-68--138 -4 Fred Couples 68-70--138 -4 Stewart Cink 70-69--139 -3 John Daly 73-69--142 E Todd Hamilton 73-69--142 E Vijay Singh 74-69--143 +1 Stephen Ames 74-69--143 +1 Kenny Perry 73-73--146 +4

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