Monty put on the clock for slow play

COLIN Montgomerie, one of the biggest critics of slow play in golf, was yesterday trying to avoid being guilty of it for the second successive week.

It has come to light that the eight-time European No1 offended during last week's French Open, the event where his career was reignited by a runner-up finish to Pablo Larrazabal.

Montgomerie, now defending his European Open title at The London Club in Kent, was happy to speak about the incident.

"I wasn't aware our group was put on the clock, through no fault of my own, and I had a very difficult shot," he said. "I took too long to play it, so I had what is known as a bad time and if I'd had one more in that round I'd have had a £2,000 fine and a one-shot penalty – but I didn't."