Monty, King of Qualifiers

WHETHER ABOUT THE U.S. OPEN or The Open Championship, there have been several qualifying stories in the last day or so. Some are inspirational. Some are heartbreakers. Normal fare for Open qualifying.

One stands out for me, though. If I had a Yonex visor like Colin Montgomerie, I’d tip it to ol’ Monty. He played like a madman to get into the 150th Open Championship at St. Andrews. As Colin said, at his age (46) it may be his last chance to tee it up on the Old Course for an Open.

Montgomerie had a 36-hole qualifier at Sunningdale on Monday. After an opening round of 69, the European Ryder Cup captain needed a low number in the afternoon round to secure one of 10 spots available to a field of 96 European Tour players who had not received automatic berths. The old boy put up an 8-under 62, tying the course record. “My best round of golf in a long time,” Monty said after birdieing five of the last seven holes.

It must feel good to get the magic back, even if just for one round. Not that I would know. It will be Monty’s 21st consecutive appearance in The Open Championship.

U.S. Open Qualifying

Some of the notables who did or didn’t make it into the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach.

In
Tom Lehman
Davis Love III
Ben Curtis
Brian Davis
Stuart Appleby
David Frost
Erik Compton
Ty Tryon

Out
Justin Rose
Rickie Fowler
Tom Kite
J.B. Holmes
Rocco Mediate
The Haas family
Lee Janzen
Corey Pavin

−The Armchair Golfer

(Image: Steve Bailey/Flickr)