GULLANE, Scotland — Colin Montgomerie's rushed journey to take place in British Open qualifying on Tuesday was all in vain. The Scottish veteran failed to make the field for the major after struggling in wet conditions.
Montgomerie drove from Pittsburgh, where he finished ninth on Sunday in the Senior Players Championship, to New Jersey, and then caught a flight home to Scotland — arriving Monday.
After a few hours of rest, he teed up Tuesday at the Gullane No. 1 course, east of Edinburgh, in the hope of securing one of three spots in golf's oldest major, which starts July 18 at nearby Muirfield.
Montgomerie was tied for second after opening with a 69 in the morning, but then got caught up in the slow play in the afternoon to shoot 76.
"The pace of play was shocking, but that's not the reason why I didn't qualify. I was 5 under through 12 holes this morning and threw it away. I played very poorly this afternoon," Montgomerie said.
Montgomerie will now take a week off and return to the United States next week for the U.S. Senior Open in Omaha, Neb. It will mean missing the Scottish Open the same week, the first time Monty will not tee up in his national Open since his Scottish Open debut in 1987.
Australia's John Wade shot a Dunbar course-record 7-under-par 63 to qualify, while Scotland's Lloyd Saltman also qualified for his third British Open. Saltman, the leading amateur in the 2010 event at St. Andrews, lives close to Muirfield.
"I'm just delighted big-time to be back into the Open and especially Muirfield, as I have been driving past every day and watching the stands going up," he said.
"To be now playing at Muirfield and just living 10 minutes down the road is amazing. I've only played there twice before and that's been in the winter when it's been freezing and with the ground solid. I practice at Archerfield, but not being familiar with Muirfield, I will have to get myself over there."
Others who qualified were Scotland's Grant Forrest, Gareth Wright and George Murray; India's Shiv Kapur; Sweden's Oscar Floren; and five Englishmen: Jimmy Mullen, Steven Tiley, Tyrrell Hatton, Ben Stow and Matthew Fitzpatrick.
