Montgomerie: disappointed
Colin completely understands Augusta's right to promote themselves. The last thing he would want to do is show disrespect or tell them who they should or should not invite.
Guy Kinnings
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Colin Montgomerie's manager Guy Kinnings has attempted to defuse a possible row after the Scot criticised the Masters' invitation policy.
Next week the 44-year-old will miss out on Augusta for only the second time since 1992, having failed to get into the world's top 50 who are automatically invited.
Montgomerie was 75th in the world rankings when the Masters field was finalised on Sunday, but three Asian players ranked below him, India's Jeev Milkha Singh (80th), Thailand's Prayad Marksaeng (93rd) and Liang Wenchong from China (111th) were invited to play by the Masters committee.
Augusta chairman Billy Payne said their invitations were "utilising the Masters brand", adding that the move would promote interest in the event in those three countries.
Montgomerie told reporters in Munich, where he was promoting June's BMW International Open, that was tantamount to handing out invitations for "TV rights".
Strange
He added: "It is a strange criteria to pick a major field without a qualification system. To be invited into a major is a big deal."
His manager was keen to clarify the eight-time European number one's comments.
"Colin completely understands Augusta's right to promote themselves," Kinnings told Reuters. "The last thing he would want to do is show disrespect or tell them who they should or should not invite.
"He's done everything he can to be there, including changing his schedule, and he's just very disappointed because he values the tournament so highly. He does, though, feel he makes an important contribution around the world in promoting golf."
