Montgomerie Leads Volvo PGA

Seve Ballesteros produced a vintage performance at Wentworth in the third round of the Volvo PGA Championship, but Colin Montgomerie confirmed he is still the man to beat in Europe.

Ballesteros scored a stunning seven-under-par 65 to take the lead early in the day, but Montgomerie matched the Spaniard's effort and holds a one-stroke advantage over Dean Robertson and Mats Hallberg with 18 holes to
play. Ernie Els is one of those two behind.

If here were two of Europe's finest, ancient and modern, then the styles were contrasting. Montgomerie stuck to the fairways whereas Ballesteros was his usual wayward, brilliant self.

Montgomerie was on the first green when the biggest cheer of the day went up for Ballesteros completing his lowest round of the year by three strokes. It was his lowest round since the 65 he shot in the first round of last September's Montgomerie said.

At the time, Ballesteros shared the lead with overnight leader Michael Jonzon. When the Swede later bogeyed the first, Seve was the outright leader. The moment did not last, as Montgomerie charged out in front, but that did not diminish the magic. "Seeing his name on a leaderboard does funny things to you," added Monty. "You know anything can and will happen."

"The European tour needs Seve and we've missed him. It was good to see his name on the leaderboard in a tournament of his stature. The Ryder Cup captaincy took any awful lot out of him. It took over his game and his whole life. It meant so much to him to be captain and to win."

Ballesteros's last victory was the 1995 Open de España but he was not trying to look ahead. "I don't like to sell the skin before I kill the rabbit," he said.

After finishing at eight under, Ballesteros said he would take 11 under as a winning score but that was the mark that Montgomerie reached at the end of the day. The Scot was hoping to get to 15 under, with a 68, in the final round to ensure victory.

"Obviously, I'd love to win this tournament," Montgomerie said. "This is one to win within the European tour and apart from the four majors and the Players Championship, it is the sixth largest event I play in."

Montomerie picked up three birdies on the front nine before chipping in at the 10th. He then eagled the 12th, birdied the 13th. At the short 14th, his tee shot almost found the cup and his putt looked in all the way. "If that had gone in it would have put me 12 under for the last 17 holes which would have been incredible," Monty said.

The Scot had closed with birdie, birdie, eagle on Saturday and a similar finish on Sunday would have put him well clear. But instead, this time it was bogey, par, birdie. "It was a shame not to press on over the last three but 65 is a good score and I'll take it."

Robertson, whose form took an upward turn when he led after one round at the Benson and Hedges International, came up to second place by birdieing each of the last five holes. He had a 67, while Hallberg, the 33-year-old Swede, scored a 69. Although Montgomerie lost a playoff to Ballesteros at Wentworth in 1991 -- "Seve hit the shot of the year to beat me," Monty recalled -- he will be concerned at the lurking Els. The South African was beaten by Montgomerie at the Million Dollar Challenge in 1996 in his own backyard and Els will want to reciprocate the gesture.

A double bogey six at the 15th, where he found a ditch and took a penalty drop, prevented Els from scoring lower than a 69 for the third time in the week. "That's my score," he said. "I need to play a little better tomorrow."

Once again, however, it was Ballesteros who swept his adoring gallery along. "It was like old days," he said. "It felt great coming to the last and seeing the people so excited. Really, it's what all players like to see and feel."

Ballesteros made seven birdies and an eagle at the fourth but also missed six fairways and eight greens. As always, his short game made up for other deficiencies and he required only 22 putts.

"It was very unpredictable and that's what the people like to see," he said. "I would rather play steady like Nick Faldo but that's the way I've always been and I think the people like to see it. It makes me happy to give pleasure to some people. For many years the crowd in this country has always supported me and that helps tremendously."

This is one of Seve's happiest hunting grounds, having brought him seven victories, and he noted the similarity with his home course at Pedrena. "My eye can play this course without any problems," he said. "I don't need a yardage book and I can read the putts from the middle of the fairway."

Asked if he could return to playing in the Ryder Cup, Ballesteros said: "If I play the way I played today, I think I will. But I have played on many Ryder Cups and I won some and lost some and I won as a captain, even though I made so many mistakes!

"The Ryder Cup is very speciato me. We have brought a lot of people into the game, the tour has grown and got sponsors and we got the respect of the people from the other side of the Atlantic. It means a lot to me. If I make the team next time, I will be happy. If not, obviously there is a new generation and I'm sure the Ryder Cup will be in good hands in the future even if I'm not there."