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THE CELTIC MANOR WALES OPEN

May 29, 2008

Colin Montgomerie

NEWPORT, WALES

Q. A round of under 70, your first competitive round on this course how does that feel?
COLIN MONTGOMERIE: It's okay. The course is obviously very, very damp and very long but it's playing okay. The greens have recovered well and the greens are still very, very damp but glad we got started eventually after the fog this morning as well. We had a two-hour delay this morning and it's been a long day already, but that's much much better as far as the golf goes.
I hit the fairways and hit the greens and holed a couple of putts. Nothing much wrong with it at all. Despite my poor performances recently, I've actually been verging on playing quite well. It is a fine line between success and failure at any top level sport, especially this one, and I was on the wrong end of the line if you like and now just beginning to move above it.

Q. Did you feel it was coming in practise?
COLIN MONTGOMERIE: Yeah, I did, what practise we had. It was a hole and a half, the Pro-Am, don't tell my partners. But my practise round, we didn't have a practise round around here. That was difficult for a start. It's been coming back. I just haven't put the scores together so it's been unfortunate.

Q. You seemed to be putting today and looking at the holes some times and not other times, tell us about that.
COLIN MONTGOMERIE: The longer putts, I look at the hole. It makes me follow through. I think if you think about darts players, they don't look at the dart when they are throwing it; they look at the target. If you think about cricketers, they are bowling to an area to pitch. They are not looking at the ball as they deliver it. And I'm the same now, the putting, I'm looking at the target, as opposed to the ball; provide that I don't miss it, I'll be okay, and I haven't yet.

Q. It's a drill that we see players use in practise but not many people are brave enough to do continue on the course; and is it a case you try it in practise thought, have a go at it?
COLIN MONTGOMERIE: We had a try on the 14th green when it was closed yesterday, and Jason, my caddie, and I thought it was a good idea to follow through. That's been wrong in my goof. I've been decelerating and too quick on the backswing and that means I decelerate through the ball. So if I look at the hole, I have to accelerate through to it and I'm very rarely short now and it's better. A couple went in, 2-under round, a 69, a big, big improvement from what's been going on before.
This afternoon back on the putting green, not sure if I'll look at the hole but I've got to follow through to the hole or else it's not going to get there.

Q. Have you done that before in your routine?
COLIN MONTGOMERIE: Yes, I have. I didn't look at the hole from ten foot, because it's almost out of the left corner of your eye; you can see the hole anyway. But on the longer putts I've done it and I holed a couple early on.
I was 2-under early on and stayed there. It's a big, long course. This is a decent layout, yes, and if it was ever dry and what-have-you, we'd get more of a run on the fairways and probably a fairer test. It's unfortunate the way it's playing right now, it was never designed to play like this, this wet. It's unfortunate.

Q. Looked at the hole a few other times, was the feeling that it could have been a few better?
COLIN MONTGOMERIE: Oh, yes, certainly that. One at 18, I don't know how that was. I looked at the hole there from about ten foot and my follow-through is about a foot longer than it is if I don't look at the hole. I've got to find a way of trying to follow through, and I haven't been doing and this is the best technique so far. We'll practise again this afternoon and see how we do this week.

Q. Is it a weird feeling?
COLIN MONTGOMERIE: Very. Most peculiar, not looking at the ball, because that's our first -- you know, you go to any coach, any ballgame you're supposed to look at the ball, you're supposed to watch the ball. If you take your eye off the ball -- so I am doing. It's a very weird feeling not looking at the ball and having to make solid contact with it. It's amazing, it takes away all of the mental approach of worrying about the stroke, worrying about where the hands are, worrying about everything else is just the strike of the ball and it's amazing how often it does get to the hole and it can often drop in.

Q. Is it a long-term plan to use this method?
COLIN MONTGOMERIE: Well, I've got to follow through somehow. I've got to learn to follow through. I've been decelerating. I've been fearful somehow and I've got to reduce that fear by following through, and this is the best technique. I did it in practise now and I've done it a couple of times today.
But obviously TV picked up that I was looking at the hole, you know, because it is different, whether I do it tomorrow or not, I'm not sure but I'll find out. If there is another way of following through without looking to the hole, please, somebody, call me, because I'm bound to miss it once, I am. (Laughing) and that would be embarrassing.

Q. How long do you think it's been that you were not looking at the hole?
COLIN MONTGOMERIE: Oh, I haven't looked at the hole for a couple of years and I haven't putted well. So it's okay. I hit the ball well today. Not just putting here, this is a course where you've got to strike the ball well, too. There's some decent shots in there, and it's a big golf course, and the scores are actually very good. I'm surprised. Again, the standard surprises me out here.

Q. What about this place as a Ryder Cup venue?
COLIN MONTGOMERIE: Well, good luck to the spectators, that's all I can say, to get 50,000 people up and down here will be a great effort, infrastructurally if you know what I mean. There's a couple of things that you see that you're fearful of, obviously, a couple single-track roads around the place where there's always going to be a head-on.
But at the same time, the clubhouse is fantastic and all credit to Sir Terry Matthews for putting all this together. Great name of the course, Twenty Ten, I think it's a great name of the course we're playing, good golf course. But infrastructurally, to get 50,000 people down here and up again will be an art, but thank God that's not my job.

Q. Good course for match play?
COLIN MONTGOMERIE: It is indeed, yes. Good conditions for match-play golf, so it's a good course, yes.

Q. Who suggested the putting technique to you?
COLIN MONTGOMERIE: Nobody. I did. I just looked at the hole, and as I was asking Jason, is my follow-through different when I look at the hole and is it not, and he said it's about a foot longer when you look at the hole. So I said, okay, we'll go with that.

Q. When was that?
COLIN MONTGOMERIE: Tuesday afternoon.

Q. You did a lot of work on Tuesday.
COLIN MONTGOMERIE: I have. A lot of work on Tuesday and a lot of work yesterday. Considering we only played a hole and a half; I was out here for six hours.

Q. Missing the cut at Wentworth where you've had success --
COLIN MONTGOMERIE: I think so, having never really missed a cut there, you know, since I don't know, I was 18 cuts in a row there or something, and it's always disappointing when that sort of record ends. That's a good record to have 12 Top 10's and all of the sort of stuff we've had there, very disappointing to miss the cut.
The golf course was not in good condition. There's no question about that, and I'm not the only one to have said that and something has to be done. At the same time, I shouldn't have missed the cut there. I putted particularly badly the second day.

Q. Variable conditions between the first two days?
COLIN MONTGOMERIE: Well, yeah, had a spot of rain, but no, it was okay. I don't want to dwell on that really. I would rather talk about the Wales Open to be honest with you.

Q. This morning was a fog delay; Ryder Cup end of September and October, the season of mist.
COLIN MONTGOMERIE: There's a river here, and the temperature between rivers and land cause fog. There could be delays here. You know, we risked it in Ireland, of course we did, you know, coming there in Dublin in September was a risk and we just got away with it. We were ten minutes away from calling offer the singles last time in Ireland. I was with John Paramor first out and he said, this is ten minutes away from stopping here. And to stop a Ryder Cup singles has never been done. I don't think. We have a problem obviously here, and also at Gleneagles, and we just pray that Him upstairs is good to us.

Q. What do you think of a four-day Ryder Cup?
COLIN MONTGOMERIE: I think it's almost got to that stage where two rounds a day, we all seem to be rushing around, packing it in, for what reason, really? I've been running around changing rooms in Ryder Cup and trying to get new clothes and stuff and socks and shoes after I've been soaked in the morning and having to do it again in the afternoon. For what reason?
You know, I think the Seve Trophy could show us a thing or two where we have the two four-balls on Thursday and Friday, and it would also give more opportunity for more players to play. I think Europe are in a position now that we can put out -- why don't we have all 12 playing the first two days; therefore, we could. And we could rest -- I would hate to say drop, but rest people on the Saturday when they have the greensomes or the foursomes or whatever the case may be. But to rush around to get everything in within three days, hey, it's an extra day of advertising, an extra day of television.

Q. One day less of previews.
COLIN MONTGOMERIE: Well, yeah, it would make sense for everybody, really, when you think about it. I think the Seve Trophy has taken a lead in that, and it's been a good way, yeah.

Q. You don't think it would lose some of its pace over three days, the intensity of it?
COLIN MONTGOMERIE: Well, it is intense, but I'm sure that you have six four-balls, that's intense. You know, yes, sure, The Ryder Cup is intense, but at the same time, you get six four balls each day, there's a lot going on in these games. You know, it's tremendous and I think that probably the days have come where to get people around twice in a day is very hard work, especially around places as large and as vast as these are now. It's harder work.
So the Ryder Cup over four days, I think everybody benefits; advertisers and television and you guys, and you have easier days, as well, so possibly. It's just hard to work for the captain, I suppose, and what-have-you, because it's their competition, but that's not a problem, shouldn't be.

Q. As a potential captain, you may well be in a good position to put this forward.
COLIN MONTGOMERIE: I wouldn't be. I'm on The Ryder Cup Committee. I have said this before. I think the Seve Trophy has had a good lead in this, but I'm only one of a number of -- we like to rush things nowadays. I wish the pace of play was rushed. That would help. It would help. I don't know how long it was today.

Q. Couple of long delays --
COLIN MONTGOMERIE: Well, we all were. I was down here at 6:30 and we didn't go until nearly ten. It was a long time hanging around because it was cold this morning. It was cold this morning. So glad to get that done and get off and got to go to the gym now. It's all very scary.

End of FastScripts

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