Colin Montgomerie's up-and-down start to the new season continued at Erinvale in Cape Town this morning as the Scot salvaged some pride following his second-round disaster.
Any chance of forcing himself into the leading group evaporated yesterday with a six-over-par 78 which included a quadruple-bogey eight on the the 17th - and he only made the cut by one shot.
That left him two-over par for the tournament. But he took advantage of his early start today to play the front nine in 34 - included birdies at the two par-threes on the second and eighth holes.
However, immediately after the turn he undid all his good work with dropped shots on the par-four 10th and 11th. But the roller-coaster ride did not end there, because Montgomerie redeemed himself with two successive birdies on 12 and 13.
He picked up another shot at the par-five 16th to finish with a three-under-par 69 and one over for the tournament.
Even so, that left him 10 shots behind new leader Anders Hansen who birdied the second and eagled the par-five third to go eight under after three holes.
PA