Colin Montgomerie's radically overhauled game unravelled in spectacular fashion during the second round of the South African Open at Erinvale yesterday as the Scot was blown off course by an ugly 78.
Montgomerie went into his round four shots off the lead after an opening 68, but by the time he and the rest of the afternoon field had battled their way through the Cape south-easter he had tumbled to within two shots of missing the cut.
The halfway lead was shared at seven-under-par by another Scot, Alastair Forsyth, and two South Africans, Nico van Rensburg and Craig Lile. The defending champion, Trevor Immelman, was three shots off the pace after a 69 - perfectly placed for an assault over the weekend. All four went out in the morning, when scarcely a breath of wind blew down from the Helderberg Mountains.
Best of the Irish was Paul McGinley, who jumped up the leaderboard to 32nd place after a 68. Peter Lawrie slipped slightly to a 74 for a one-over-par total, while former champion Mark McNulty and Ciaran McMonagle, despite shooting 72s, missed the cut having left themselves too much to do after the opening round.
No hole at Erinvale plays more difficult than the 17th, a monstrous par-four which yesterday was playing into the wind. By the time Montgomerie stood on the tee he was close to winning his fight with the gale, only two over for the day and still very much in the tournament.
But he pulled his drive hard left and the ball was declared lost, forcing a trudge back up the mountain to reload. His second attempt at the hole was only marginally more successful and he eventually carded a quadruple-bogey eight.
"It was the par-fives that did for me. I did not do bad for the other 16, but never mind," Montgomerie said, ignoring or simply trying to forget his calamity at the 17th.
Conditions were so tough that the cut mark went out by a stroke every hour in the late afternoon, eventually falling at three over par.
"The wind didn't just have teeth, it had fangs," said the overnight leader, Brett Rumford of Australia, who is one shot off the pace after a 74.
