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THE 145TH OPEN

July 14, 2016

Colin Montgomerie

Troon, South Ayrshire, Scotland

Q. For someone who's said, I don't do drama my whole career, and the first hole was definitely drama filled, wasn't it?
COLIN MONTGOMERIE: I tell you, the best shot I hit, probably one of the best shots of my life, was the fourth shot out of the bunker in the first, away from the hole. Amazing how that ball came out. No one in the field would have gotten the first ball out of there. It was buried right in the face of the bunker. You saw it on television; it was horrendous. And the second one fell into a footprint, and my footprint is deeper than most, so that was no good. And then I hit a great shot to get it out of the bunker, and then a good up-and-down for 6, then did well.

You know, five birdies in the next eight holes was good, very good. There are opportunities, of course there are, but you've got to take them, and I managed to do that with two par-5s, having laid up both of them and made birdies on both on 4 and 6, and go to 8 and 9 was super as well. And then it's hang on, you know. You'll see this and you'll hear this by everybody coming in. I'm the first in here and you'll hear this from everybody coming in. I was 3-under on the front 9, and 3-over on the back 9, and that's par for both. Par is 3-under on the way out, and par is 3 over on the way back, and that's why I'm 71 here level par.

Q. How did it feel off to tee off the Open at Troon?
COLIN MONTGOMERIE: Oh, fantastic. A great honour, a great honour. We spoke to the R&A about that. An honour for all three of us, Marc Leishman and Luke Donald as well. It was a great atmosphere on the first tee, no doubt. And we all hit our shots and off we go. Just the second, third, fourth and fifth and sixth shots weren't so good for me, but they both birdied, of course. Didn't they have to go and birdie and just make it worse. So I'm 3-back on the second tee, so I was quite pleased with myself because I beat them both at the end of the day.

But that's what you'll see today. You'll hear 3-under, 4-under on the way out, and then it's a matter of hanging on the way back. And remember, this hasn't shown any teeth, this course, at all today. This is a 3 out of 10 job here. Right? Tomorrow, we're talking 7, 8 out of 10 here. And it's going to be very different.

So I'm just glad I've got that 71 in there because I'll need them all tomorrow.

Q. Monte, rain tomorrow?
COLIN MONTGOMERIE: Rain tomorrow, well, yeah, it's the same thing. The rain and the wind direction is going to be similar, I believe. But rain, okay, we get out and it's a matter of hanging on. And I made a couple of real errors there on the back nine, they're errors that you'll see that people coming in, if you do miss two pins that are tight left here today, 14 and 18, and I managed to miss them both left, and I got up and down at the last, it was over 20 foot, but the one on 14 was a mistake, and I had no shot on both accounts.

So, you know, you're not aiming there. Of course you're not. But you know not to go there, and it's disappointing to hit those particular two shots coming in. But as I say, 3-under going out, 3-over coming in.

Q. (Inaudible).
COLIN MONTGOMERIE: Yes, it was a strange one. There was a movable obstruction but it was in the hazard. The actual bridge is within the hazard and my ball was quite fortunate that it actually went over the bridge or hit it to get there in the first place. But, yeah, it was a movable obstruction inside the hazard. Now do I get a drop or do I not? I had to ask (indiscernible). You know, I'd done enough not to get (indiscernible).

Q. What was the disturbance for your second shot on the 1st?
COLIN MONTGOMERIE: Yeah, sometimes people aren't quite ready for the opening shots, what have you. There was a guy at the top of the stand opening up all the Wi-Fi with a bag or some sort of carry bag that was keeping it dry overnight or something, and he wasn't quite aware of what was directly below him, which was me.

Q. Were there nerves stepping out there first thing this morning?
COLIN MONTGOMERIE: Of course there was. I'd be inhuman if there wasn't. Very much so. But I sort of dug deep into the Ryder Cup ways, where I'd let off the tee twice in the singles, led off the tee three or four times in the four-ball foursome. So it was that type of feeling.

Q. What time did you get up this morning?
COLIN MONTGOMERIE: 4.

Q. (Inaudible).
COLIN MONTGOMERIE: Well, I knew it wasn't coming out at first, and that was the problem. The only way I could go was towards the pin, and it did okay. It hit one of the top rivets of the bunker and spun up, and as soon as it came down and landed in my footprint, then it was really serious, because, again, I didn't really have a shot at all, you know. And went out of the bunker.

Had a chat with Alistair, and he didn't have anything at all. He was useless at that stage. We all were. I don't know. The best shot I hit all day was the fourth shot going away from the hole at the first hole. That was the best shot I hit all day.

Q. Was there any other option?
COLIN MONTGOMERIE: No, no.

Q. Was there any other?
COLIN MONTGOMERIE: No, there was a marvelous shot.

Q. So you caught a good double bogey then, if there is such a thing?
COLIN MONTGOMERIE: If there is such a thing. If there is such a thing, that's it, believe me, because six always beats seven.

Q. When was the last time you spoke to your father and what was said between you?
COLIN MONTGOMERIE: Oh, I haven't. Hopefully at 4 o'clock he was in the land of Johnny Nod.

Q. Last night (inaudible)?
COLIN MONTGOMERIE: Oh, just best of luck and whatever. But, no, it was a great honour for me and for the family and the members of Troon that I kick this off this morning. I look forward to having some sort of life. But it's 11:30, it's two great times. And as we got to the 8th and you stand there and there's no one ahead of you, the 8th, 9th, and 10th, you have no one ahead of you, the second group hasn't finished yet, and we were done for almost half an hour. It was a great time to play. It really is.

Q. Can you talk about the par save on 13?
COLIN MONTGOMERIE: 13 was a good par save, and to throw away 14 was very disappointing after you work so hard and you miss it in the right. And I caught my 5-iron at the 14th, and that was disappointing. I had to throw it away.

Q. How big was the putt on 13?
COLIN MONTGOMERIE: It was a good 40-foot.

Q. Did you get any breakfast this morning, Colin?
COLIN MONTGOMERIE: Not really, no. You're not really hungry at that time. I'm going for something now. Just finished the opening round and you go for breakfast. That's great.

Q. Could you smell the bacon cooking that we can?
COLIN MONTGOMERIE: Yeah, you know, you're here and you smell it. There's one place on left of 7, left of 7 that's annoying, you know (laughing), and you want to stop, you know. I did in practise rounds and you have to keep going. You know, it's disappointing. That smell is fantastic.

Q. Is that the kind of local knowledge that gives you the edge?
COLIN MONTGOMERIE: What, where the bacon smell is? (Laughter). If that's what I'm working on, I'm in big trouble.

Q. (Inaudible).
COLIN MONTGOMERIE: Look, I tell you what, I tell you what, a lot better players than me in the world of golf would have taken 71 after being 2-over at the first. One of the easiest holes, if not the easiest par-4 on the course. To be 2-over there and a lot better players, top 10 in the world would have taken 71 there after that.

Yes, so I'm very proud of myself, yeah, for hanging on, because that was easy, easy to score 78 there. Simple.

Q. What are your hopes for the rest of the week?
COLIN MONTGOMERIE: Well, as I said, I've got to be realistic and all I was hoping for is to walk on the 18th on Sunday. And I'm still with that; I haven't changed my goal.

Q. You were actually top of the leaderboard at one time when you finished the turn.
COLIN MONTGOMERIE: When I birdied 9, yes, I had a quick look, and I was number 1 on there, so I thought that was all right.

Q. (Inaudible).
COLIN MONTGOMERIE: Well, sure. You know especially after double bogeying the first. You throw in the double bogey, and it's not like you're giving the field two shots, you've given the field two-and-a-half shots because most of them might birdie. So I've given them three shots. So to get to the turn at 3-under was a great effort.

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