Colin Montgomerie overcame an indifferent start and some minor annoyances with the crowd to maintain a two stroke lead at the Murphy’s Irish Open this afternoon.
Montgomerie held a two-shot advantage over Eamonn Darcy and Fredrik Henge overnight, the Scot’s eight under first round of 63 taking the Fota Island course record.
But Monty knows as well as anyone that nothing can be taken for granted in this game, particularly this season, and he struggled to find his touch early today.
And after dropping shots at the 12th and 16th (his third and seventh) Montgomerie was dislodged from the top the leaderboard by Thomas Bjorn, the Dane moving to seven under par.
Montgomerie did pull one shot back at the eighteenth but was clearly frustrated after going out in 36 - he covered the same stretch in 31 yesterday.
Then, at both the second and third greens, whilst stepping up to attempt par putts, the 38-year-old was distracted by mobile phones in the crowd.
For brief moment it seemed as if Monty was going to confront the guilty parties and make them fully aware of his displeasure. Happily, he kept his composure but his requests for the individuals in question to turn the phones off were accompanied by the kind of icy glare only he can deliver.
Ironically, the interruption appeared to breathe some new fire into his round. A run of three birdies immediately followed moving him below par for the day and lifting him back to the top of the heap at 10 under par.
"In a lot of ways, that was a better round than yesterday’s because of the way I started," Montgomerie claimed afterwards. "I got to double figures which was my target at the start of the day."
Montgomerie revealed the blustery conditions around Fota Island were causing the players problems and he believes the course to be playing "at least two shots tougher than yesterday."
As for his challengers at the top of the leaderboard, Montgomerie was most concerned about Thomas Bjorn who "will be a major threat over the weekend".
Bjorn, despite holding the on course lead at nine under as his round drew to a close, bogeyed two of the final three holes to leave himself three shots off the pace.
The world number 16 had climbed almost unnoticed past the leaders and whilst the galleries focused on the efforts of Montgomerie and Paul McGinley, the Dane’s patient, deliberate approach was paying dividends.
Bjorn had carded a five under par 66 yesterday but was overshadowed by Montgomerie’s brilliant 63 and the return to form of Eamonn Darcy. And again this morning, in his own unflappable way, Bjorn attacked the course and came out on top to be placed nicely for the weekend.
England’s Barry Lane and Thomas Levet of France join Bjorn at seven-under-par.
Also well placed is England’s Andrew Wall, a young player considered to have a big future in the professional ranks.
The 26-year-old, who won the Alfred Dunhill Championship last year, carded his second 67 of the week to move to eight-under-par on his own.