Double Senior Major Champion Colin Montgomerie's quest to become only the second man after Gary Player to win all three Senior Majors in a season, got off to a solid start at the Senior Open Championship Presented by Rolex, in Wales.
The 51 year old was not able to find the sort of sparkling form that has seen him win the last two Senior Majors in the US, but still managed to card a respectable one over par 72 in Glamorgan.
Despite some of the high profile members of the field predicting some low scoring this week, Thursday morning proved particularly testing, with Monty himself only picking up the two birdies in his 18.
“I think Bob Tway's four under par round might well stand the whole day. So to shoot one over par, to cut a very long story short, that’s okay,” said Montgomerie.
“It's very, very firm and fast, quite like Muirfield last year or even Hoylake back in 2006. If we don’t get rain tonight, it might be even tougher.
“But you've got to guess the right way out there, because that's what links golf is like in these conditions. Phil Mickelson managed it at Muirfield, so we have to do the same here.”
There is much expectation about Montgomerie’s presence in town, with the Scot always a popular figure in these parts.
Although everyone is talking about the prospect of the Scot matching Player’s achievements of 1988, Monty believes he is most at home on American style courses.
“I just have to really enjoy myself,” said Montgomerie. “This has never really been my sort of course if I’m honest with you. If I was to be brutally honest, I don't have a very good record in the Open Championship. Although I was second once.
“But I do prefer the American style of courses. This is guesswork and I'm not very good at guessing. So I've got to go back to the poker tables and guess a bit more and see how I go tomorrow.”
Montgomerie’s sentiments about the conditions at Royal Porthcawl were echoed by fellow Scot Andrew Oldcorn, who fared very well in his first round, posting a two under par 69.
The three-time European Tour winner was understandably delighted with his day’s work.
“I’m very happy with that round of golf. Any time you shoot under par on a golf course as tough as that, in a Major Championship, it’s a good feeling,” said Oldcorn.
“There are two or three holes out there that are virtually unplayable. The par three 15th with the way the wind is, it’s a success just to keep it on the green there.”
Many of the players have been impressed with what they have seen at Royal Porthcawl, with the coastal links providing wonderful scenery and plenty of challenges.
Oldcorn also praised the setup, which many of the field believe is playing harder than Hoylake did last week for The 143rd Open Championship.
“It’s immense out there, a definite Open Championship course in my view. I know Tom Watson has already said that this week. I didn't play Hoylake last week and he did, so it was interesting to see him and one or two others saying this week was shaping up to be a harder test.”
