By Matt Slater BBC Sport at Royal Troon

If Ernie Els' hole-in-one at the Postage Stamp got the biggest cheers of the week so far, there is no question about who is getting the most cheers at Royal Troon.

As far as the galleries are concerned, Colin Montgomerie could walk to the Isle of Arran and back if he fancied.

A relaxed Montgomerie has delighted the Royal Troon galleries

Accompanied by the kind of crowds normally only seen in this country at Old Firm games, the 41-year-old Scot fairly bounced his way around the course he grew up playing.

American playing partner Frank Lickliter must have been wondering if this was the same guy that fans in his country have to be asked to be nice to.

You don't need a degree in behavioural sciences to realise that there is more going on here than just Ayrshire folk cheering for a local boy.

To say there are waves of love pouring down the grandstands would be overstating it, but there are waves of affection, sympathy and a sense that he deserves a break.

That Montgomerie's 15-year marriage has so publicly imploded is almost as well known as the fact that the seven-time European number one is still chasing his first major title.

We're only halfway there - it is a seven-mile walk round and there are still 14 miles to go Colin Montgomerie

It is also reasonably well known that he came through a play-off to qualify for this tournament, and that his world ranking has slid to 71st.

To win it here, where he is still a member and where his dad was secretary until 1997, would, on top of the kind of summer he has had, be the story of the year.

And for two spells on Friday it looked an odds-on certainty.

The first came when Montgomerie, a late starter, birdied the first two holes to get within a shot of the lead.

He bogeyed the next but immediately hit back with another birdie to return to four under.

Report: Monty makes his move

The crowd was swelling, the sun was shining and Monty was loving it.

Even an unplayable lie in a greenside bunker at the sixth failed to rain on his parade.

He tried a "hello sailor" stance, joked with the crowd a bit, and then deposited the ball on green. It was all so easy.

But then the buzz started to dissipate - it had to, it was too good, too early. Monty missed makeable birdie putts on seven and eight, and dropped a shot on nine.

Even that failed to spoil his bonhomie. Birdie chances came and went at 11 and 14, as he continued to find the greens only to miss the putts.

The first decent thing that has happened to me in a while - a very important day in my life Montgomerie on qualifying for the Open

And then it happened again. Monty fired another accurate approach at the heart of the green at 15, but this time there was no resigned shrugging. The putt dropped, the mood lifted once more.

Next up was the par-five 16th, perhaps the closest thing Troon's back nine has to a "birdie hole". The crowd favourite didn't disappoint and now he was on five under, and within two of the lead.

But golfing fairytales don't work on Fridays: they need to be saved for Sundays. So there was something strangely inconsequential about Monty's three-putt at the last for his second bogey of the day.

Even if he had birdied it, he would still have been two shots off the 36-hole lead - exactly where he was at Muirfield in 2002.

What followed then - an 84 - is as much a part of Monty folklore as his 33 pro wins or Ryder Cup heroics.

Will it, finally, be different this year?

I, and 30,000 others, certainly hope so. You can keep your Henman Hill and Sven's Red and White Army, I'd rather march with Monty's masses.