Storms threaten to wash away Monty’s Open dream

Colin Montgomerie was facing a desperate battle to qualify for the British Open after heavy rain and summer storms brought havoc to the Scottish Open which was reduced to a 54-hole event on Saturday.

Persistent heavy rain in the Inverness region of northern Scotland caused localised flooding, and with portions of the new Castle Stuart course collapsing onto fairways officials decided to make the event a 54-hole tournament.

Sections of the embankment along the side of the first and 12th holes were carried by the storms onto the fairways.

Eventually, play was suspended for the day with action to resume at 7am (0600GMT) on Sunday morning.

When play eventually restarts, Montgomerie will be playing out of a hazard at the 10th hole and on six under par, five behind the leading trio of Northern Ireland’s Graeme McDowell and the Scottish duo of Scott Jamieson and Peter Whiteford, each at 11-under par.

The trio had completed their rounds near lunch on Friday.

Montgomerie had insisted earlier in the day that the full 72 holes should be played as he tried to rescue his bid to qualify for the British Open which starts at Royal St George’s in Kent on Thursday.

Playing the event over 72 holes would have boosted his hopes of continuing an unbroken run of 22 Open appearances since making his debut in golf’s oldest Major in 1990.

Compatriot Jamieson, in sharing the lead, now stands a better chance of snaring the last place into Royal St. George’s.

“The scoring, as everyone could see, was fantastic before the delay. So it’s going to make a big difference going to 54 holes and those like me have been hurt by this decision,” said Montgomerie, last year’s Ryder Cup-winning skipper.

“But those guys in the clubhouse and leading at 11-under par are laughing. I would be too, if I was one of them.”

Seventy-eight players, among them the world’s top two ranked players in Luke Donald and Lee Westwood, were among those affected when officials called an early halt to play on Friday night.

Conditions were so poor that spectators were stopped from entering the course while two of the three car parks were closed - two fans suffered leg injuries.

There was severe flooding in many areas while greens staff had to deal with the landslides on the first and 12th fairways.

Staff have also had to rebuild some footpaths, and spectators will not be allowed on the first, second, 10th, 11th and 12th holes.