Colin Montgomerie upbeat at Senior Open after first round 67
Thursday 23 July 2015 21:44, UK
Colin Montgomerie was pleased to recover from a horror hole on the back nine to stay in contention after the opening round of the Senior Open Championship.
The three-time senior major champion got off to a steady start with three birdies over the opening 10 holes, but lost ground after thinning a four-iron in to the heather at the 11th and running up a double-bogey six.
After leaving an eight-foot birdie putt short at the next, Montgomerie responded by posting back-to-back gains to close a three-under 67 and stay within two strokes of an eight-way tie for the lead that includes last year's winner Bernhard Langer.
"It was disappointing to double a hole, my God, because it was playing as easy as it possibly can be," Montgomerie told Sky Sports 4. "But 67, we've said many times before, you can only lose it today and not win it. If that's the worst score I do around here, I should be okay.
"I think I'm more relaxed, I'm more patient and over four rounds you put that behind you. You're going to make mistakes around here, but doubles are obviously disappointing."
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Senior Open debutant Peter O'Malley had a familiar face carrying his bag in the form of cricketing legend and fellow Australian Shane Warne.
The Sky Sports pundit saw his compatriot post an opening two-under 68 to stay within three of the lead, with O'Malley pleased with a blemish-free start to the tournament.
"It was a good, we had a fun day out there," O’Malley told Sky Sports 4. "I made two birdies and 16 pars, so nothing really exciting and no flare like Warney used to have!
"I played very conservatively with lots of fairways and lots of greens, but it was great to have my mate out there carrying the bag.”
"When I saw that Sunningdale was the Senior Open venue I was really looking forward to turning 50, which is unlike most people!"
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