Manila
COLIN Montgomerie summoned up the courage to sample another slice of
the high life golfing success brings in the nineties with a helicopter
ride to the scene of what he hopes will be his first victory of the new
season in the Johnnie Walker Classic.
It took only eight minutes for him and fellow passenger Greg Norman,
who is contemplating buying his own 'chopper' to go with his Gulf Stream
jet, arguing that ''it's a business tool,'' to be ferried from their
downtown hotel over seething Manila with its 12m population to the
palatial new Orchard Club.
The #8m clubhouse comes complete with theatre, cinema, Olympic-sized
pool, and ballroom, while outside tennis, squash and even pelota courts
sprawl over 15,000 square metres the full length of the par-5 eighteenth
fairway.
Hitherto no fan of helicopters, the 31-year-old Scot, who
superstitiously always strives to secure seat 1A on passenger planes,
admitted: ''I don't like the way they go up and down in air currents,
but I decided it was preferable after enduring an hour-long ride through
the traffic jams.''
He has been demoted from the No.1 berth he occupied in the order of
merit at the end of the last two seasons by American Fred Couples, who
beat him into second place in the Desert Classic on Sunday, having
benefited from a European Tour decision to include non-members, but the
Scot firmly believes he can be back on top come Sunday night.
A #100,000 victory this week for Montgomerie -- who generously donated
his $10,000 winner's cheque in the Texas Scramble to President Fidel
Ramos's Green and Clean campaign for the 7000 islands of the Philippines
-- would also nudge his Ryder Cup-counting winnings to more than
#280,000 and virtually guarantee his seat on Concorde in September.
With Seve Ballesteros, Bernhard Langer, Montgomerie, Jose Maria
Olazabal and Ian Woosnam currently occupying the top five places in the
table, the Scot is pleased with the way the team is shaping up: ''It's
important with Bernard Gallacher having virtually just one pick. That
will have to be Nick Faldo, who's playing in America this year, unless
he wins a couple of majors.
''I strongly favour a system by which the whole team was selected, as
happens in football, cricket and rugby. It's important to have your
strongest team, rather than reward someone for playing in 35
tournaments. Our victories in 1985 and 1987 made the European Tour and
it's vital that we win back the cup.''
Captain Gallacher backs the present method of Cup qualifying: ''If
many more followed Faldo on to the American circuit we might have to
reassess matters, but it with big money events on top quality courses
towards the end of the year included and points now available in the
American majors it's the right balance. It wasn't only the cup wins of
'85 and '87 that made the Tour, it also was European victories in the
majors.''
Norman would dearly like to retain his Johnnie Walker title as he
approaches his fortieth birthday on February 10, just to prove he is
will be a major force in the season ahead. ''In 1990 I embarked on a
programme aimed at making me fitter and stronger,'' said Norman. ''Jack
Nicklaus wishes he had started working on his fitness in his 30s instead
of his late 40s.
''I believe if you are fit you can go on competing at the highest
level until you're 55 or 57. Raymond Floyd is 52 and, although outwardly
not that fit, he's a very healthy speciman inside and swinging as well
as ever.''
Montgomerie, who partners world No.1 Nick Price in the first two
rounds, starts among the favourites with Norman, Couples and Ernie Els,
and other Scots in the field include Sam Torrance, Andrew Coltart, Gary
Orr, Adam Hunter and Ross Drummond, all non-qualifiers in Dubai.
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