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THE SENIOR OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP PRESENTED BY ROLEX

July 27, 2017

Colin Montgomerie

Royal Porthcawl, Wales, United Kingdom

Q. How were conditions?
COLIN MONTGOMERIE: Yeah, it was actually worse earlier on. To be 3-over after six and be going into where in a hurry after you bogey the par 5, you waited five holes and you bogey the thing, and to come back in 3-under was very good, very good.

Q. Talking about the patience at a major championship, given conditions out there today, is it added patience you need, or what's the mentality for you?
COLIN MONTGOMERIE: Very much so. You have to be, you have to be, very, very patient. I said that in the press yesterday. It's the guy that can deal with adversity more than anybody that's going to do well here, and on the seventh, I managed to hole a good putt on 7 and 8. So birdied 7 and 8, got back to 1-over and birdied the very difficult ninth and thought this is all right.

Yeah, it's extremely difficult and scoring is extremely hard. It's just very difficult. Most of the holes we found are crosswinds, which for us is a nightmare. Straight into or straight down is okay, but we don't have one of those holes. So we're into and sort of across, and it's a very, very difficult golf course.

Q. Speaking of that, how does that affect your strategy? Does it become less about scoring well and more about hitting fairways and greens?
COLIN MONTGOMERIE: Oh, yes, Corey is an expert at that, we were paired again and he can show you that, just keeping the ball down, working the ball right-to-left, left-to-right. It's not about stopping a foot from the pin today. This is a battle, a battle of mind and physicality, because of course it's a long walk, as well. We're all over 50 by definition. So it's a long walk, as well, and quite hard to walk the whole thing.

But now I'm going to have a hot bath when the weather is going to be -- it says better, but I think it's going to be worse.

Q. How important is it for you just to get off to a good start?
COLIN MONTGOMERIE: My goal is to be in contention Saturday night. That's what I want to do. So a start is always a bonus for that. Two more days to get into contention. That's what I'm looking for.

Q. How pleased are you with that?
COLIN MONTGOMERIE: Very good effort. A couple of squalls came in there, but at 9 for us, also 14, horrible. It was always going to be very, very difficult. I always said, even when we were making birdies third and fourth, Alistair said to me, it's okay, keep it to bogeys, we're okay. Don't make doubles and don't make triples. There were a lot of sixes and sevens out there.

We played conservative when we could and we attacked at the right time, and of course, you hole a couple of putts, which is very difficult with the wind buffeting you. So I'm just delighted to get in. My goal is obviously to be in contention Saturday night, and I've made a reasonable start.

Q. How difficult is it to concentrate?
COLIN MONTGOMERIE: I said in the press yesterday, it's just dealing with adversity, really. You know it's going it happen. You know you're going to make mistakes. I made four out there. I was just lucky to make four birdies and keep the bogeys to a minimum, because you know -- the greens are very reasonable holing putts. They have to be, otherwise we would have to stop playing today; it was that windy. Corey's ball blew off his marker at the par 3, fifth, so it's just very, very difficult. It's not getting any better I don't think. Tomorrow is going to be worse.

Q. Your first round, how hard was that today?
COLIN MONTGOMERIE: It's very difficult. We're all battling and we're all trying to keep it as low as we possibly can. The squalls, the showers, the buffeting wins, the golf course is a very, very demanding test of golf on a calm day, let alone 20-mile-an-hour wind gusting out there. It's just a very, very difficult today.

I managed okay, 3-over after six, you've got to be patient. That could have got away from me. That could have been six or seven over. I'm just so glad I came in with a reasonable score at level par. Can't see any better than that today. Just going to go out there tomorrow and try to do the same thing.

Real shame, really, real shame. This is our summer, and a lot of Americans have travelled a long way. It's a shame we are giving them this type of weather. It really is a pity. It's a real shame.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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