Dunhill Links Championship: Ali McGraw and Ryan O'Neal do not have a look in. The galleries were sparser and the weather closer to Siberia in January than July in Fife but the love story between Colin Montgomerie and the Old Course grows ever stronger.
Second to the imperious Tiger Woods at the British Open earlier in the summer, the Scotsman lifted himself into first place in the Dunhill Links Challenge yesterday with a seven-under-par 65, and a one-shot lead over Kenneth Ferrie, with his Ryder Cup colleague Paul Casey two shots further back.
Seven under around the Old Course is good under any circumstances but in yesterday's grey and blustery conditions it was sparkling. At one stage Casey, who shot a two-under-par 70, pointed out to rules officials that the wind was causing his ball to oscillate on the green and asked if they might consider calling a halt. The answer was no, much to the relief of the event organisers, who already have enough logistical nightmares to cope with at a tournament where six-hour rounds are nothing out of the ordinary.
Montgomerie was particularly glad to keep playing, not least because he birdied his first six holes. At that stage a new course record seemed a distinct, if preposterous, possibility. Instead he had 11 pars and one more birdie to tie the South African David Frost's record set earlier this summer.
And if he is still in front come Sunday night then he will be back in the world's top 20. Montgomerie, whose partner in the celebrity pro-am this week is Hollywood star Michael Douglas, began the year in 81st place.
To say the Scotsman was delighted afterwards would be to suggest that Cheshire cats are occasionally partial to a saucerful of cream. He had even managed to collect a few statistics on the walk from the scorer's hut to the media centre.
"The average score out there today was 73.5," he announced. "So that makes my 65 sound quite good.
"I've shot 61 before but the average wasn't 8.5 shots worse. I have never beaten the average by 8.5 shots, so that is probably the best I have ever done against the field. In fact, that is probably the best day I have ever had."
That is quite a statement, given the length of Montgomerie's career and the successes he has enjoyed. It is also a statement that, once upon a time, you would have offered long odds against hearing from his mouth.
Strangely for a Scotsman, he has never liked links golf courses and, in particular, he has never liked the Old Course. He has suffered some of his greatest golfing indignities in St Andrews, not least his infamous defeat in the Dunhill Cup - the predecessor to this event - against Raul Fretes of Paraguay.
The events of this summer transformed that rocky relationship. "I think when you do as well as I did at the Open, it gives you confidence and a positive frame of mind getting here. I felt at the Open I was beginning to be able to get to the stage where I'm able to get round this place . . . right now, I am very comfortable here, and so is my caddie. We can play chess with this course now," he said.
It must be hoped he is also good at draughts, because today's forecast is for winds nearing gale force. This is a big week for Montgomerie and anyone else with aspirations to win and not just because first place comes with a €660,000 cheque.
There is the 2005 Order of Merit to play for and Ryder Cup points at stake. Victory here would go a long way to ensuring membership of Ian Woosnam's team for The K Club next year.
Padraig Harrington leads the Irish challenge after a second successive 70 left him on four-under-par 140 - five behind Montgomerie - while Damien McGrane, Graeme McDowell and Darren Clarke all struggled in the wind for two-round totals of 143.
In the team section Rich Beem and American businessman John Tyson lead on 17-under 127 by one from the South African pair Warren Abery and Chad Morse.
Olympic triple jump gold medallist Jonathan Edwards, playing with Ferrie, is joint third with Anders Hansen and Peter Schmeichel, Barry Lane and his wife Camilla and Italian Francesco Molinari and his brother Edoardo, winner a month ago of the American amateur title.
JP McManus and Harrington are best of the Irish in a tie for seventh place on 130 after rounds of 64 and 66.
Second Round Scores
at Carnoustie, Kingsbarns and St Andrews
(Irish in bold, British unless stated)
135 - Colin Montgomerie 70 65
136 - Kenneth Ferrie 68 68
137 - Ricardo Gonzalez (Arg) 69 68, Pierre Fulke (Swe) 71 66
138 - Paul Casey 68 70, Brett Rumford (Aus) 68 70
139 - Terry Pilkadaris (Aus) 74 65, Peter Hedblom (Swe) 70 69, Alessandro Tadini (Ita) 67 72, Brian Davis 68 71
140 - Anders Hansen (Den) 69 71, Warren Abery (Rsa) 69 71, Andrew Marshall 70 70, Ignacio Garrido (Spa) 74 66, Mark Foster 70 70, Titch Moore (Rsa) 72 68, Rich Beem (USA) 67 73, Padraig Harrington (Irl) 70 70, Jose Manuel Lara (Spa) 70 70
141 - Paul Broadhurst 70 71, Bradley Dredge 68 73, Peter Gustafsson (Swe) 73 68, Anthony Wall 69 72, Patrik Sjoland (Swe) 70 71, Richard Green (Aus) 70 71, David Howell 67 74, Simon Khan 69 72
142 - Jamie Donaldson 72 70, Soren Kjeldsen (Den) 70 72, Maarten Lafeber (Ned) 72 70, Sam Torrance 68 74, Barry Lane 72 70, Francesco Molinari (Ita) 69 73, David Park 70 72, Markus Brier (Aut) 72 70, Miles Tunnicliff 71 71, Simon Dyson 69 73, Steve Webster 73 69, Niclas Fasth (Swe) 70 72, Nick Dougherty 68 74, Lee Westwood 71 71
143 - Thomas Aiken (Rsa) 71 72, Carlos Rodiles (Spa) 70 73, Phillip Archer 70 73, Roger Chapman 71 72, Jean-Francois Lucquin (Fra) 74 69, Keith Horne (Rsa) 68 75, Jonathan Lomas 72 71, Damien McGrane (Irl) 72 71, Raymond Russell 73 70, Scott Drummond 71 72, Eduardo Romero (Arg) 69 74, Henrik Stenson (Swe) 69 74, Graeme McDowell (NIrl) 69 74, Darren Clarke (NIrl) 68 75, Gary Orr 72 71, Nick O'Hern (Aus) 68 75, Jyoti Randhawa (Ind) 71 72, Johan Axgren (Swe) 73 70, Christian Cevaer (Fra) 69 74, David Carter 72 71
144 - Peter Baker 69 75, Gordon Brand Jnr 72 72, Peter Hanson (Swe) 73 71, Sam Little 73 71, Philip Golding 69 75, Robert Karlsson (Swe) 70 74, Richard Finch 74 70, Miguel Angel Martin (Spa) 72 72, Gary Emerson 71 73, Darren Fichardt (Rsa) 71 73, Ian Poulter 71 73, Mark Roe 70 74, Mikko Ilonen (Fin) 74 70
145 - Henrik Nystrom (Swe) 71 74, Martin Doyle (Aus) 73 72, David Griffiths 70 75, Marcel Siem (Ger) 72 73, Richard Sterne (Rsa) 74 71, Oliver Wilson 71 74, Sven Struver (Ger) 75 70, Mads Vibe-Hastrup (Den) 71 74, James Kingston (Rsa) 70 75, Gary Murphy (Irl) 71 74, Edward Loar (USA) 71 74, Paul McGinley (Irl) 74 71, Amandeep Johl (Ind) 73 72, Joakim Backstrom (Swe) 70 75, Richard Bland 70 75, Martin Maritz (Rsa) 75 70
146 - Peter Senior (Aus) 73 73, David Lynn 73 73, Charl Schwartzel (Rsa) 74 72, Costantino Rocca (Ita) 76 70, Matthew King 71 75, Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (Spa) 74 72, Martin Erlandsson (Swe) 71 75, Wade Ormsby (Aus) 71 75, John Bickerton 71 75, Jean Van de Velde (Fra) 72 74, Andrew Coltart 70 76, Jose-Filipe Lima (Por) 71 75
147 - Graeme Storm 73 74, Santiago Luna (Spa) 71 76, Mark Murless (Rsa) 71 76, Jaco Van Zyl (Rsa) 74 73, Neil Cheetham 76 71, Simon Wakefield 70 77, Lee Slattery 75 72, Alastair Forsyth 73 74, Stephen Dodd 72 75, Stephen Gallacher 74 73, Ian Woosnam 70 77, Stephen Scahill (Nzl) 73 74
148 - Marcus Fraser (Aus) 73 75, Mattias Eliasson (Swe) 74 74, Tony Johnstone (Zim) 74 74, Ian Garbutt 73 75, Sandy Lyle 73 75, Francois Delamontagne (Fra) 71 77, Fredrik Andersson Hed (Swe) 76 72, Matthew Richardson 74 74, Eric Ramsay 74 74, Des Terblanche (Rsa) 71 77, Soren Hansen (Den) 72 76, Mahal Pearce (Nzl) 72 76, Fredrik Henge (Swe) 76 72
149 - Peter Fowler (Aus) 76 73, Gregory Havret (Fra) 79 70, Gregory Bourdy (Fra) 73 76, Steven O'Hara 73 76, Johan Skold (Swe) 73 76, Stuart Manley 72 77, Robert-Jan Derksen (Ned) 75 74
150 - Andrew Oldcorn 75 75, Emanuele Canonica (Ita) 72 78, Raphael Jacquelin (Fra) 70 80, Rolf Muntz (Ned) 75 75, Robert Coles 79 71, Stuart Little 76 74, Peter O'Malley (Aus) 74 76, Andrew McLardy (Rsa) 77 73, Chris Williams 73 77, David Frost (Rsa) 76 74, Leif Westerberg (Swe) 77 73
151 - Paul Lawrie 76 75, Jarmo Sandelin (Swe) 75 76, Marten Olander (Swe) 71 80, Joakim Haeggman (Swe) 75 76, David Bransdon (Aus) 74 77
152 - Paul Eales 75 77, Brad Kennedy (Aus) 74 78, Adam Groom (Aus) 75 77, Ben Mason 74 78
153 - Garry Houston 73 80, Christopher Hanell (Swe) 76 77
154 - Jason Knutzon (USA) 78 76, Klas Eriksson (Swe) 76 78, Marc Cayeux (Zim) 75 79, Jean-Francois Remesy (Fra) 76 78, Fulton Allem (Rsa) 78 76
155 - Malcolm Mackenzie 77 78, Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa) 75 80
156 - Gareth Paddison (Nzl) 76 80
157 - Lee Williams (USA) 79 78
159 - Gregory Hanrahan (USA) 78 81
Withdrew: Mikael Lundberg (Swe)
LEADING TEAM SCORES
127 - R Beem, J Tyson 62 65,
128 - W Abery, C Morse 63 65,
129 - A Hansen, P Schmeichel 66 63; B Lane, C Lane 66 63, F Molinari, E Molinari 66 63, K Farrie, J Edwards 64 65,
130 - P Fulke, P Morse 66 64, B Davis, W Dewsall 68 62, P Harrington, JP McManus 64 66, C Cevaer, A Taylor 62 68.
