Heineken Classic: Colin Montgomerie insisted he had never been happier on or off the course after claiming a share of the halfway lead in the Heineken Classic.
A rejuvenated Montgomerie, second in the defence of his Caltex Masters title in Singapore on Sunday, fired six birdies in a flawless 65 for a nine under par halfway total of 133.
That was later matched by in-form Australian Peter Lonard who recorded a 68, with South African Trevor Immelman a shot behind on eight under alongside 23-year-old Australian rookie Jarrod Lyle, who led with six holes to play before two late bogeys.
Defending champion Ernie Els was also back in contention after what he described as a "grinding 64", the world number three recovering from an opening 72 to finish three shots off the lead in his quest for a record-equalling fourth straight victory.
Graeme McDowell was the only Irish player to survive the halfway cut. McDowell shot a second round 70 for a two under par total of 140. However, Peter Lawrie, Damien McGrane and Gary Murphy all missed out. Lawrie was two shots outside the cut which came at 142 after a 73, McGrane shot 70 for 144 while Murphy was a shot back on 145 after a 75.
Montgomerie went through a traumatic divorce from his wife of 14 years Eimear, but yesterday painted a rosy picture of his new life.
"I've never been happier in my life, on or off the course, than right now," insisted the former European number one. "My golf is good, I'm happy at home, there is nothing that can affect me at this stage.
"I went to Dubai and had a great time there practising, I went to Singapore happy and finished second and came down here and am leading so you have to say that Monty's actually quite happy right now."
Montgomerie finished last season ranked a lowly 81st in the world - second in Singapore moved him up to 73rd - and is desperate to climb the rankings to qualify automatically for the major championships.
An initial target is the top 25 but Montgomerie remains highly ambitious after losing weight to ease a back problem, allowing him to rediscover the swing which made him such a formidable force for so long.
"I know what I have to do to try and get up the rankings as quick as possible and I'm doing my utmost to do that in a hurry," he added. "Once I get to my goal, I don't want to stop there, I want to get back to where I was.
"I was once number two in the world and it got to the stage if I'd won the Scottish Open at Loch Lomond and Greg Norman had missed the cut in America I would have got to number one. He didn't, I didn't and Tiger Woods was born. And it's been downhill ever since!
"I'm not saying I'll get to that stage again but I'd like to get as high as possible."
