Yesterday Montgomerie shot 69 in the second round and at four under par for the tournament he is in joint second place
Yesterday Montgomerie shot 69 in the second round and at four under par for the tournament he is in joint second place, two strokes behind Barry Lane.Torrance scored 73 to stand at two over. “He calls me No 2 all the time,” Montgomerie said yesterday.Montgomerie is No 2 in the Volvo Order of Merit, pounds 29,000 behind Torrance, but he could well win enough at the K Club here tomorrow to displace the leader. Big Monty and Swinging Sam may be Scots and they may have been team-mates in America but in Ireland for the Smurfit European Open they remain the deadliest of rivals. Golf
TIM GLOVER
reports from Co KildareBernard Gallacher, Europe’s Ryder Cup captain, is not blameless despite leading Europe to victory over the US in Rochester last weekend.
Perhaps influenced by a touch of Tartan nationalism, he paired Colin Montgomerie and Sam Torrance in the final series of fourballs and they were beaten 4 and 2. For those months, I have been continuously training,” he said.South Korea is using the match to further their campaign against Japan to stage the 2002 World Cup.. But Maradona stumbled several times during the hour-long session and appeared to tire easily.Maradona, with the visiting Argentinian president among the spectators, is confident of a brilliant return.”I was not on a break for 15 months. It was Maradona’s second drug ban after a 15-month ban for cocaine use while playing for Napoli.On Thursday he teamed up with his old partner, Claudio Caniggia, to put on a display of shooting and passing prowess. And about 1,000 fans who waited in the rain for an hour at a train station were disappointed to see the maestro perform some juggling tricks for 10 minutes.Maradona, heavier and slower, will turn out for Boca Juniors, with whom he signed a two-year contract in June, in his first match since playing against Nigeria in the 1994 World Cup in the United States, where he was expelled for using the stimulant ephedrine.
“Despite all his arrogance and controversial behaviour, one thing about him is more than admirable: his sincere attitude in training,” said the Sports Seoul.
The daily noted during his week-long stay in the South Korean capital, the 35-year-old Maradona had not missed a single training session but had broken promises of public appearances, leaving fans, including children, in the lurch.He cancelled a coaching session for children at an amusement park after they had waited two hours for him. Their Danish opponents, Brondby, nevertheless command respect, having drawn at Arsenal last season, as did Auxerre, though the Gunners beat both away.. Football’s other bad boy, Diego Maradona, ends a 15-month suspension for drug-taking against South Korea in Seoul today and the former Argentinian captain is already provoking a mixed reaction. With the former Netherlands manager, Dick Advocaat, entrusted with the task of breaking the Amsterdam club’s dominance, and Wim Jonk and Jan Wouters reunited in midfield, the one-time works team for the Philips electrical company represent a prestigious scalp.Nottingham Forest tackle Auxerre, who in 1991 beat Liverpool 2-0 in Burgundy before caving in at Anfield. History favours Forest; French clubs have only twice defeated English rivals in 17 ties.Liverpool appear to have an even better chance of achieving what proved beyond any British outfit in the Uefa Cup a year ago – a place in the third round. In the same tournament, Celtic face Paris St-Germain, who boast the new enfant sauvage of French football, the aptly named Patrice Loko.Leeds’ reward for beating Monaco is a tie with another of the Uefa Cup’s glamorous names, PSV, who are currently three points behind Ajax.