Golf: Monty issues challenge to Campbell

ST ANDREWS, SCOTLAND - Colin Montgomerie has thrown down the gauntlet to New Zealand golfer Michael Campbell following the Scot's impressive win in the Dunhill Links Championship yesterday.

Montgomerie denied England's Kenneth Ferrie to clinch his 29th European Tour victory after posting a birdie on the final hole on the Old Course at St Andrews.

Montgomerie's one-under-par 71 in an error-strewn final round left him on nine-under 279, one shot better than overnight leader Ferrie, who crashed to a 77 after beginning the day with a five-shot cushion.

The win lifted Montgomerie, 42, from fourth to second place on the European Tour order of merit, just £85,829 ($221,665) behind Campbell, who elected to skip the St Andrews event.

Campbell, the US Open champion, preferred to practice in the United States ahead of the Amex-World Golf Championship (WGC) starting in San Francisco on Friday (NZ time).

Montgomerie took full advantage to make up ground on an absent Campbell and capture the £450,000 first prize cheque.

"My order of merit race is back on track with this victory as I needed to make up ground on Michael," Montgomerie said.

"I am on record as saying that I would swap all my seven previous order of merit titles for an eighth and that opinion has not changed.

"If I happen to win another one, then great. But there is still a big gap between myself and Michael, who is obviously playing very well."

The win was Montgomerie's first since February last year when he won the Singapore Masters, and kept alive his record of having won at least one tournament a year since 1993.

He began the event at St Andrews in fourth place on the European order of merit and has now gone ahead of South African Retief Goosen and Argentina's Angel Cabrera.

They also skipped the tournament following their participation in last week's Presidents Cup in Virginia.

All four players will contest the US$5 million tournament in San Francisco and then travel to Spain for the European Tour's season-ending Volvo Masters starting on October 27.

While the order of merit race could be decided this week in California, Montgomerie has an advantage over Campbell and Goosen because he has also entered next week's Madrid Open.

While the Spanish event will carry a smaller first prize cheque of about £120,000, a win might make the difference in Montgomerie securing an eighth European No 1 crown.

- NZPA