Colin Montgomerie matched his lowest round of the year in Paris on Saturday - and then urged people not to dismiss his chances of figuring prominently in the upcoming Open Championship at Turnberry.
"I was eighth there in 1994, and The Open gives me my best opportunity if it's fast-running," said the Ryder Cup captain, after a six-under-par 65 in the third round of the French Open Alstom at Le Golf National.
Montgomerie did not expect to make the cut after a closing triple-bogey seven on Friday had dropped him to one over. He survived by the skin of his teeth, however, and on his return to the course on which he was runner-up last year - his last top-10 finish - he sank a 97-yard pitch to the sixth for an eagle two and grabbed four birdies.
Best of those was a 204-yard four-iron to within a few inches of the flag on the difficult 17th, and that reminded the 46-year-old of his prime.
He added: "That's what I used to do. I've been making far too many mistakes - there were a load of crazy ones on Friday - and it starts with hitting fairways.
"If I do that I can play to my strength, my iron play. This was a very important round for me, and I've just got to keep at it hoping it will come back one day.
"That seven killed things off here. I've now got to move up as high as I can - I don't need the money, but I need the points."
04 July, 2009