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 | | Sunday, 19 May, 2002, 15:04 GMT 16:04 UK Monty fights off Tiger attack  Woods could not escape Montgomerie's clutches  Third round leaderboard Sports Talk: Will Montgomerie prevail?Tiger Woods and Colin Montgomerie produced a thrilling duel in the third round of the Deutsche Bank-SAP Open on Sunday. Montgomerie was the overnight leader with Germany's Alex Cejka, two shots clear of Woods, but the world number one erased the margin at the very first hole. Woods went on to produce some remarkable golf on his way to a 64 and it looked as though the rest of the field would be blown away.
But Montgomerie refused to cave in and came up with a splendid 65 to hold a one-stroke lead going into Monday's final round.
By the time Montgomerie made it onto the course Woods had swept into the lead with some dazzling golf. The world number one was four under par after just three holes and he went to the turn in 31, but Montgomerie matched him blow for blow. Despite being in some pain from his back the Scot was himself three under par after three holes and he took only one more shot than Woods over the front nine. Whenever Woods threatened to forge ahead Montgomerie would respond, and they shared the lead for much of the round before the Scot finally edged ahead over the closing holes.
Montgomerie twice had to receive treatment to his back during his round and he is concerned that he may not be fully fit to partner Woods on Monday. "If I get some flexibility in my back I have a chance of competing," he said. "I have a very weak back. I never thought my career would come to this, but I'm seriously concerned that I will not be able to compete." Woods was delighted with the way his round went and he is looking forward to going up against Montgomerie on Monday. "I was hitting and shaping just about each and every shot and it was an awful lot of fun," he said. "This was a better round than the 63 I shot in the third round last year, but I'm not surprised I'm not leading. "The conditions were benign and you could fire at just about every flag. Confidence boost "It's going to be a lot of fun playing and competing with Colin. He's a friend and I thoroughly enjoying playing with him." Provided he is fit to play Montgomerie's third-round performance will have done his confidence the power of good. On Saturday Montgomerie said: "You don't go head-to-head with Tiger. Mentally he's better, he can out-drive you, he's a better putter and chipper." On Sunday Montgomerie proved that he could compete with the champion. Now he has to prove to himself that, despite his doubts, he can go head-to-head with the undisputed world number one. | |
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