Montgomerie is aiming to bridge a 12-year gap

After missing the cut in his five previous events it represented a big improvement for the 42-year-old Scot.

Montgomerie, who won in Madrid in 1994, is the top-ranked European player in action at San Roque, where Swede Peter Hanson defends his title.

No champion has managed to retain their Spanish crown since Max Faulkner sealed successive wins way back in 1953.

With Sergio Garcia and Jose Maria Olazabal not in the field, home hopes will focus on Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano and Miguel Angel Jiminez.

Fernandez-Castano beat Henrik Stenson in a play-off in Shanghai last weekend to claim the Asian Open title.

It was the 25-year-old's second European Tour title, having won last year's KLM Open in Holland.

Fernandez-Castano will be hoping to become just the third home player to win the Spanish Open since 1972.

Seve Ballesteros won in 1981, 1985 and 1995, and Garcia was triumphant in 2002.

Jimenez, who briefly shared the lead on the final day of the Masters at Augusta, and Montgomerie are the only members of the 2005 European Ryder Cup team taking part.

Winning would put Jimenez into one of the top 10 automatic places in this year's race for Cup berths.

Montgomerie, currently 18th in the world, lies fourth and is virtually certain to earn an eighth cap against the USA at the K Club near Dublin in September.