SCOTLAND'S Colin Montgomerie added a 71 to his blistering opening round of 65 to gain a slender one shot lead at the halfway stage of the Million Dollar Challenge in Sun City, South Africa, yesterday.
The 33 year old European number one drove and putted superbly to post an eight under par total of 136 after 36 holes of the rain affected tournament.
Welshman Ian Woosnam, with a second round of 69, and South Africa's Ernie Els (70) are joint second on 137 while Zimbabwe's Nick Price and American trio Mark Brooks, Steve Stricker and Steve Jones are a further shot back on 138.
Defending champion Corey Pavin (71) and Germany's 1985 and 1991 winner Bernhard Langer (70), are all on 139 while England's Masters champion Nick Faldo made up for a disappointing opening 73 with a second round 68.
Montgomerie had moved to 10 under by the 10th hole of the afternoon round but then dropped shots at 13, 14 and at the last which were only partially offset by a birdie three at 17.
"I've dropped four shots and two of those were three putts," said the Scot. "At 14 I was unfortunate to hit a path and get a kick into a bush where my ball was unplayable.
"Then at the last I thinned my chip 10 feet past the hole and missed the putt coming back. At that hole it wasn't the most quiet of crowds and that made it pretty difficult to concentrate."
But Montgomerie said he would have settled for a one shot lead if he had been offered it early in the morning.
"I'd certainly have taken it. All in all I'm quite content. My record here isn't particularly good and it's nice to be in contention" he said.
"I'm hitting my drives well and I'm putting well, but my irons weren't quite as good as in the morning. The preferred lies have certainly helped with the scoring."
Woosnam, who has dropped only one shot in 36 holes, was also happy with his game.
"But my driving could be a little better," he said. "With my back trouble, I'm a little short on my back swing and I tend to push a lot of my drives to the right. I'm pretty pleased with my overall game, though.
Montgomerie had shrugged off the memories of second to last finishes in his two previous appearances in the tournament to lead by two strokes after the first round, which was concluded this morning after rain halted yesterday's play.
He carded five birdies and an eagle three at the par five ninth hole in his 65, the lowest opening round score in the 16 year history of the event.
"This is the best I've played since the Lancome Trophy in September. I don't really know why. I think it's helped that I took two weeks off before this event and I simply just relaxed," he said.
