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VOLVO MASTERS

October 28, 2005

Colin Montgomerie

SOTOGRANDE, SPAIN

GORDON SIMPSON: Colin, you were correct and we would not expect 67 every day, it was 67, 66 and a wonderful position at halfway.

COLIN MONTGOMERIE: Yeah, I'm obviously, you know, delighted. You come here with all sorts of pressures and anxiety he's and all sorts of stuff going on, and to score 9-under par on this course after two days is a result. I'm even proud of that. I'm not proud of what I do mostly on the golf course; I am today. That was very, very good, very good.

And I enjoyed playing with Ian. Ian played well, as well. He was 68, and I was 66. That's a very, very good result, and I'm delighted with the situation at halfway. This was always going to be difficult, there was no question about that, this isn't easy. If it was easy, we'd all be doing this, believe me, because this is okay, you know. He'd be doing it, everybody would be doing it, 90 percent of the population would love to do what I do, and it's not easy, and it's a stress. I'm just delighted to be in this position at halfway.

GORDON SIMPSON: A certain sense of frustration that you started so late, you were saying on TV.

COLIN MONTGOMERIE: Well, it was obviously going to be a cloudy day, a rainy day, and I don't understand why we have to start at ten to 10:00 at the first time. All it does is it does hurt the later starters coming in, the 18th. These trees are almost touching each other right now; it is very, very dark, and it does affect one's play. I've had that two days now, and let's hope we can see a little bit better tomorrow. Hopefully it's less cloudy and hopefully we can start a little bit earlier.

Q. Certainly Sunday, you've experienced that in the past.

COLIN MONTGOMERIE: Well, The Masters is the same. I'm sure Augusta starts at 3 o'clock and there's no time for a playoff. And here it's the same with Bernhard Langer back in 2002 that we never had time to complete the playoff and one doesn't understand why we should start so late.

Q. Have you spoken to anybody about this?

COLIN MONTGOMERIE: It's not my -- I'm just a happy player. (Laughter).

Q. In case of the TV covering the tournament --

COLIN MONTGOMERIE: Well, sometimes we have to think about the players.

Q. You said it wasn't easy, but you made it look pretty easy.

COLIN MONTGOMERIE: When I play and what I did for seven years back in the 90s, people thought I made this game look easy. That's when I play well, I make this game look easy. It is not. It is not easy. This is bloody difficult.

Q. Do you take extra pride for making it look easy?

COLIN MONTGOMERIE: Yes. I take pride from you thinking I make it look easy. Especially you. (Laughter).

Q. Another great day with the putter, only 25 putts and in spite of the 3-putt in the end, you're obviously as you can be?

COLIN MONTGOMERIE: I've got the pace of the greens very much and I'm happy with that. I've got the pace of the greens early on. And again, it's very important, as I said the first three or four putts I hit in a day and I was 3-under after four today. I got off to a fine start again and it's important for me. I'll be trying to -- obviously try and do the same thing tomorrow.

Q. Is this the same putter you've tossed away in Madrid?

COLIN MONTGOMERIE: Well, it wouldn't be because I tossed it away.

Q. But is it back in the bag?

COLIN MONTGOMERIE: No, I've tossed it away.

Q. You've never used it again?

COLIN MONTGOMERIE: No, I've tossed it away.

Q. It was put in the bag?

COLIN MONTGOMERIE: I've tossed it away.

Q. But it was put back in the bag?

COLIN MONTGOMERIE: Can you repeat that? I tossed it away!

Q. And then it was put back in the bag.

COLIN MONTGOMERIE: Was it? Well, it's not in there now. Sorry for that. Carry on.

Q. Did you change your strategy midway in the back nine; the birdies dried up, or were things just not quite happening for you?

COLIN MONTGOMERIE: I birdied 13 and 14. Were you expecting me to birdie 16, 17 and 18 as well? I'm sorry they dried up. I apologized for that.

Q. Just wondered if you started to play a little bit more conservatively.

COLIN MONTGOMERIE: No, this is bloody difficult, and par -- if you make par on any hole out here, you're gaining on the field, on any hole. Every hole this week will play over par, right. So because the birdies dried up, doesn't mean that I was playing conservative or something. I'm going for every shot. I'm trying on every shot and that's what I'm doing. I'm committed to doing that this week and so far, so good.

GORDON SIMPSON: Seven of them, actually.

COLIN MONTGOMERIE: I made seven birdies and two bogeys. And I don't know how many I made yesterday. I made a lot of birdies here, and as I say, I enjoy playing here and I'm looking forward to tomorrow's battle, because that's what it will be and I look forward to it.

Q. The pace of the greens was different today, wasn't it, than yesterday because of the rain?

COLIN MONTGOMERIE: No, not really. They are very good. They dry out very quickly here. There's a great sand base and the greens are super, they dry out well. There's no difference in pace, really.

Q. You didn't show any emotion when it spun back on 10. Was that because you thought you were in the zone, anyway, and you didn't want to let something like that upset you?

COLIN MONTGOMERIE: Exactly.

Q. I should be out there, shouldn't I?

COLIN MONTGOMERIE: You should be here, really.

As soon as I hit a shot, it's gone, all right, it's away, in the back of my mind, let it go, you know. Wasn't a bad shot. Just spun off the green. Spun off 70 yards down a hill, okay, fine. You get on with it, you know.

Q. Which par was better, 7 or 15? You said making pars is important around here.

COLIN MONTGOMERIE: Sure.

Q. Which one was better, 7 or 15?

COLIN MONTGOMERIE: Oh, 15 was -- 7 was okay. I had a backstop there. It wasn't very difficult really to be honest. And it was an eight-foot putt.

15 was a 40-foot curly one. 15 was a great par to make, and gave me, you know -- kept me going and hit the 16, 17, 18 greens and I just happened to miss a bit short on the last but that's okay. I'm not concerned about that. I'm in the lead. I came here to win the Volvo Masters and I knew if I did that, that everything else would take care of itself. So far, so good.

Q. Can you describe the second shot you had to hit on 15?

COLIN MONTGOMERIE: Yes, I felt like a little calm ran here, my 7-year-old boy and his length of the club. I was right down the shaft and only about ten inches from the club head and just had to hit it right. I couldn't hit it anywhere else but right. If I tried to hit it left, it would have gone into the bunker. It was an extremely difficult shot and delighted to walk up even with a 4 to be honest. A 4 from there would have been fine. A 3 was a real bonus at the 15th.

Q. Do you think in the middle of the competition it is between you, Sergio and Ian?

COLIN MONTGOMERIE: No, not at all. Not at all. There's a lot of good, good, competitors behind and a lot can happen here. You can lose shots here in a hurry and you can gain them in a hurry, as well. This isn't between three people at all. This is an Open field. It's an amazing golf course and one that we all look forward to playing every day because you're just not sure what's going to happen.

Q. You said everything else will take care of itself this week, but do you look at where Michael Campbell is on the leaderboard?

COLIN MONTGOMERIE: Yes, I'm aware of the situation.

Q. Then?

COLIN MONTGOMERIE: That's -- I'm aware.

Q. He said he'd like to be at Pinehurst. Is there another course that you'd rather be than here?

COLIN MONTGOMERIE: No. This is it for me. This is it for me. There's nowhere else I'd rather -- I said this at the start of the week. I'm so glad that it's played here. There's no other course that really, apart from St. Andrews probably, there's no other course that I'd rather be than here over the weekends right now.

Q. In a way, you had a high-profile pairing with Michael yesterday, and you had another one with Ian; does that sort of -- having a real competitive person beside you, you've got Sergio tomorrow, spark you, or do you ignore them?

COLIN MONTGOMERIE: No, I think you're right. I think I was glad that I was playing with Michael and then Ian of course, defending champion and Sergio of course who lost in a playoff here last year and is a world player, of course, of great repute.

So there's no worries about that. I don't -- I take notice. Obviously Sergio is a fantastic golfer and I look forward to the challenge of playing with him and played with him twice in San Francisco recently the last couple of days and I enjoyed it. I look forward again tomorrow.

Q. A lot of chat today with you and Ian?

COLIN MONTGOMERIE: A lot of chat, yes. A lot of chat. (Laughter).

Q. Cars, cars, cars? It sounded like?

COLIN MONTGOMERIE: Well, I don't know. There's all sorts of chat going on with Ian, but that's him. He's a great character and good for the Tour and become a very, very good golfer. I'm sure he'll make the next Ryder Cup Team, as well, and that's good for him.

GORDON SIMPSON: Thank you very much.

End of FastScripts.

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