Colin Montgomerie, who ruled the roost in Europe for seven unbroken years in the nineties and Tiger Woods, who has dominated the world game in the early part of the new century, go head to head for the Deutsche Bank-SAP Open TPC of Europe title at St.Leon-Rot.
Montgomerie, nursing a bad back which necessitated two bouts of treatment on the course, fired a third round 65 but still found himself only one in front of Woods with a 17 under par total of 199 after the defending champion produced a blistering 64 to move into second place.
However that pair of heavy artillery are not out on their own. In close pursuit come England’s Justin Rose and Greg Owen, who shot 66 and 68 respectively for totals of 202 and 204 to maintain their recent run of fine form.
Montgomerie’s 65 was all the more commendable for the circumstances in which he found himself. The lingering back problems which haunted him in Australia at the start of the year returned with a vengeance and the prospect of pulling out occurred to the 38 year old Scot.
He said: “I need to get some flexibility into my back if I want to have a chance of competing tomorrow. I didn’t think I would continue after the third hole. I got a physio, Dale Richardson, to come out at the sixth and put something hot on my back then he gave me five minutes of manipulation in the starter’s hut at the ninth green.
“I’ve got a very weak back. I never thought my career would come to this, but it has. Unfortunately I’ve got to try to protect it. The best thing would be for me to take time off but I can’t. I have to keep on taking the pain killers. I will need to get some flexbility into the back to have a chance of playing and winning.
“In the circumstances, 65 was a good effort, the second best score of the day.Tiger’s name on the board kept me going and every birdie I made, he seemed to match. Tomorrow I’ve got to play my own game and do what I do best, which is hit fairways and greens. If I do that I hae a chance. If I try to play his game, then I would lose.”
The quality of the golf was simply breathtaking. Montgomerie, joint leader overnight with Alex Cejka, eagled the second and birdied the third but, despite starting two ahead of Woods, found himself tied at the top.
The American had opened with a three iron to 12 feet for an eagle at the first and birdied the second, third and fifth to accelerate into the lead. Now Woods is relishing the chance to play in the last group with Montgomerie, the first time that has occurred since the third round of the 1997 Masters Tournament.
On that occasion, Woods played brilliantly and went on to capture his first Major Championship as Montgomerie fell away and he said: “It’s going to be a lot of fun going out to compete with Colin. He’s a friend of mine and I thoroughly enjoy playing with him and competing against him. It’s been a while since I hit the ball like that. Everything was right where I wanted it and it was an awful lot of fund to so that. That 64 is better than the 63 I shot in the third round last year.”
Rose, winner of the dunhill championship at the start of the year, had six birdies in a bogey-free round of 66 to follow his second round 65. A high finish this week, perhaps a victory, will assist him aim of climbing into the top 50 in the world and attaining a place in the field for the US Open Championship.
He said: “Walking down the 18th I looked at the board and saw the names of Woods, Montgomerie and Rose and it was a pretty nice feeling. There are big galleries here and a fantastic ‘vibe’ about the tournament. I was enjoying myself uot there and it’s good to be in contention.
“I thought at one point I might have played with Tiger but I won’t. I have mixed feeling about that. It’s possibly a bit harder playing with him but ultimately that’s where I see my game going and it would be a great experience to play with the best in the world.”
Owen, who lead for the first two rounds of the Benson and Hedges International Open last week, closed with three straight birdies to move to 12 under par while Australian Richard Green sank a 153 yard eight iron at the 18th to make a dramatic jump over several players. He is one of four players sharing fifth on 205.
