Monty finds Tiger up to Masters challenge
By PAUL NEWBERRY
AP Sports Writer
AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) - Colin Montgomerie wondered if Tiger Woods
had enough experience to handle the pressure of being a leader
in the Masters heading to the weekend.
Monty - and everyone else - got the answer Saturday.
"He is," Montgomery said, without a hint of hesitation.
"There is no chance - we're all human beings here - there's
no chance humanly possible that Tiger Woods is going to lose this
tournament. No way."
Woods reduced the hallowed course to something resembling a
putt-putt layout, shooting a 7-under 65 in the third round to
lead the field by nine shots, while Montgomerie fell from contention
for his first major title with a mediocre 74.
Beginning the day is second place, only three shots behind
Woods, Montgomerie wound up in tie for sixth at 3-under 213 -
12 shots behind the wunderkind.
The Scottish golfer's frustration was readily apparent when
he stomped into the media center and, while waiting for Costantino
Rocca to finish his interview, slumped in a chair at the back
of the room. After a few seconds, Montgomerie glanced over at
a small scoreboard that listed his score as 4-under.
While Rocca was still talking, Montgomerie strolled over to
the board, knocked the red "4" out of its slot and slapped
a "3" into place.
"My game doesn't take much talking about today, I'm afraid,"
Montgomerie said when he finally got to the podium. "It was
quite poor."
A day earlier, he had questioned the staying power of the 21-year-old
Woods, playing in the Masters as a professional for the first
time and less than a year removed from college.
Montgomerie, 12 years older and seasoned by two playoff losses
in major tournaments, figured he might have an edge when they
played together in the final twosome Saturday - despite Tiger's
obvious physical advantage.
"The way he plays this course tends to suit him more than
anyone else right now," Montgomerie had said Friday. "But
at the same time, there's more to it than hitting the ball a long
way, and the pressure's mounting now more and more. I've got experience,
a lot more experience in major golf than he has. And hopefully,
I can prove that."
On Saturday, it was Montgomerie who looked like the inexperienced
golfer.
His troubles began at par-5 second hole when he sent his tee
shot sailing into the trees on the left. From there, he wound
up along the ropes on the opposite fairway with his second shot,
then the bunker in front of the green with his third. He took
a bogey to Woods' birdie, a two-shot swing that set the tone for
the rest of the day.
While Woods was brilliant, Montgomerie was merely ordinary.
He bogeyed two more holes on the front nine - including the other
par-5 - to go along with only one birdie.
By the time they made the turn at 9, Woods and Montgomerie
were still together only in the sense of being in the same pair.
Woods' score had plunged to 12-under, while Montgomerie was plodding
along nine shots behind.
The back nine wasn't much better.
Montgomerie failed to take advantage of a chance to move up
when he parred the two par-5s. His tee shot sailed into the woods
at 13 and he fired his second shot into the crowd at 15, then
chipped short of the green with his third.
"I played the par-5s badly," said Montgomerie, a
regular on the European Tour who lost in a playoff in both the
1994 U.S. Open and the 1995 PGA Championship. "Two over for
them and two over for the round. I'll just let Tiger Woods come
in. He's waiting."
With that, Montgomerie hustled out of the room, out the door
and up the hill to the clubhouse. He never turned back to look
at the giant scoreboard, where hundreds of fans gathered to marvel
at Woods' nine-shot lead.
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