COLIN Montgomerie may have just had a season to forget on the European Tour, but the Scot has started this season with renewed vigour as he looks to begin his ascent back up the world rankings at this week's UBS Hong Kong Open.
The 45-year-old has amassed an impressive 31 career titles over the last two decades, but has seen his chances of adding to that diminish in recent times with his last European Tour victory coming in July 2007.
Montgomerie has, however, given hims
elf a good chance of ending that barren run in Hong Kong this week after following up an opening-round two-under-par 68 with a 65 yesterday to put him only one shot off the lead, alongside four other players on seven-under 133.
Seeing his name high up on the leaderboard is something Montgomerie concedes he has not seen for a while and the Troon golfer is hopeful of maintaining his form through the weekend in a bid to regain some lost confidence.
"It has been too long and it is nice to see it there," said Montgomerie, after carding six birdies and only one bogey at the Hong Kong Golf Club. "I'm 45 years old and I am just trying to gain some confidence. When I was winning in the 1990s on a regular basis I was confident of doing so but now I have lost my confidence.
"So getting two scores back-to-back in the 60s is good for me and I can gain some confidence from that and know I can achieve what I think I can."
Oliver Fisher, the 20-year-old Englishman, heads into the weekend in a four-way tie at the top of the leaderboard alongside compatriot Oliver Wilson, South Africa's Louis Oosthuizen and Chawalit Plaphol of Thailand on eight-under 132.
Fisher picked up birdies at the second, fourth and sixth holes and added two more coming home in a flawless display. The Londoner came closest to breaking his European Tour duck when he lost a sudden-death play-off to Frenchman Thomas Levet at the Open de Andalucia in March this year.
While Fisher left it late to make his move up the leaderboard, it was Oosthuizen who produced the best performance of the day after carding a superb eight-under-par 62 – just one shot off the course record.
"I don't want to say it could have been more, but I played well," he said. "I hit 17 greens in regulation and I made some putts. So I'm hitting it well, I must say, and I've worked on my putting a bit the last five or six months, and it's finally getting a bit more consistent."
Northern Irishman Rory McIlroy delivered an excellent 64 to stay in the chasing pack on 133, while history was made as Hong Kong teenager Jason Hak became the youngest player to make the cut at a European Tour event.
Hak carded successive 70s in the first two rounds for level-par 140 and, at 14 years and 304 days, beat the record set by Sergio Garcia, who was 15 years and 46 days at the Turespana Open Mediterrania in Valencia in 1995.
American Jon Daly followed up his first-round 68 with another to lie in a pack of players on 136, including veteran Bernhard Langer. Of the other Scots, Scott Drummond carded a 70 for 138 as did Aberdeen's Paul Lawrie, who was one stroke further back on 139.
The full article contains 595 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
