Sleepy Montgomerie clings to lead at WGC event (Reuters) Updated: 2005-10-08 09:26 SAN FRANCISCO, Oct 7
(Reuters) - Britain's Colin Montgomerie sleep-walked his way to a one-under-par
69 to cling to a one-shot lead after the second round of the WGC-American
Express Championship on Friday.
Fighting off jet lag, he began the day with a three-stroke cushion over a
chasing pack of 11 players led by Tiger Woods and stayed awake long enough to
stay top of the leaderboard on seven-under 133 and on course for his first PGA
Tour title.
Fellow Briton David Howell and American John Daly were in joint second place
on 134 after returning 67s for the second consecutive day.
Woods, chasing a record 10th individual WGC title, battled to a 68 and leads
a large group on five-under 135.
"I was so tired I was blinking," said Montgomerie, who flew to San Francisco
on Tuesday after winning the Dunhill Links Championship at St Andrews two days
earlier. "I'll get a better sleep tonight hopefully," he told reporters. "I'm
very tired right now, I think the jet lag is kicking in.
"I just left too late. My first win in 19 months needed celebration.
"I needed to see my children on Monday and I had a four-hour delay on the
runway on Tuesday morning so I arrived here very late. I just hope the
adrenaline will keep me going these next two days."
Montgomerie showed no sign of fatigue when he opened the $7.5 million
tournament with a six-under 64, his best round on the PGA Tour.
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