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the greenside pond and played well away from it into a bunker, from where he took three more to get down.

But it was Montgomerie who had most to savour. He won £32,500 to take his 1996 prize money to £717,146 and retain the Vardon trophy he has held since 1993. He has equalled the record of Peter Oosterhuis, who won four years in a row from 1971 to 1974.

But Montgomerie's European earnings dwarf those of his predecessor, for he is only £10,000 short of £5 million, which he has reached in only 10 seasons.

Of 82 order of merit tournaments since the start of 1993, he has won 10, been runner up 10 times, and had 27 top 10 finishes.

He has played 302 rounds for which he is 466 under par, and in addition to the £2.928 million official money has won a further £660,000 from special events, such as the World Matchplay Championship.