COLIN MONTGOMERIE last night confounded those who believed that his exceptional performance when he took the lead after the first round of the US Open was a fluke. Montgomerie had been the only player to be under par on Thursday and he played redoubtably in his second round over the demanding course at Winged Foot, taking 17 pars and one bogey in his 71. He had a putt on the last green to share the lead at the halfway stage of the second major championship of the year on one under par with Steve Stricker, of the United States, but it veered away.

Montgomerie will now experience the full weight of the pressure that is applied to the leaders of major championships, an experience he previously enjoyed in the Open at St Andrews last summer. He will play in the last group at the US Open today for the first time since 1994. He has been a revelation at this difficult golf course this week, looking like the man who won eight Orders of Merit in Europe and who finished second in this event twice in the 1990s. His rhythm has returned, his judgment of distance has been good and his driving accurate.

If Montgomerie’s steadiness was a surprise — and it was, considering his wretched run after the start of the year — then it was merely one of the shocks on a day when Tiger Woods missed the halfway cut in a major championship for the first time in 38 such events as a professional, European golfers seemed to be doing their best to atone for years of lack of success in this event and David Duval, golf’s forgotten man, leapt back into the limelight with a round of 68, equalling the day’s lowest.

Kenneth Ferrie provided another surprise, the amiable Northumbrian defying form and experience in this event by taking a two-stroke lead over the field before slipping back slightly to finish on one over par. Ferrie has never played in a major championship in the US — and not many with any great success in Britain come to that — but you would not have known that from the way he dealt with a course that was manhandling so many of his rivals. “Two bad swings and that meant two double bogeys,” Ferrie said. “My own fault.”

In Woods’s absence from the field for the last two rounds, Phil Mickelson will be able to make more inroads into the gap that exists between the two Americans, the No 1 and No 2 in the world. Mickelson, attempting to win his third major in a row, is handily placed, four strokes behind Stricker.

As Montgomerie was doggedly holding on throughout a long afternoon, there were other performances of note by his fellow Europeans. Padraig Harrington’s 69 was capped by a long putt on the 18th and he is two over par. Graeme McDowell went round in 72 to be three over par, Phillip Archer had another 72 to be four over par and extend an extraordinary month of form that shows no sign of ending, and Ian Poulter, by adding a 71 to his previous score of 74, was five over par. The largest-ever contingent of players from the European Tour were beginning to make themselves felt in the 106th Open. It’s about time. The previous European winner of this event was Tony Jacklin in 1970.

Woods played what is known as Army golf — left, right, left, right — in his second round. He was, if anything, even wilder yesterday than he had been on Thursday. “I thought I could play well and shoot a decent round,” Woods said, looking very deflated and reflecting on a round in which he twice took sixes on par-four holes. “It was not rust. I did not put it together at the right time.”

SECOND ROUND LEADING SCORES

United States unless stated
*denotes amateur

139: S Stricker 70, 69. 140: C Montgomerie (GB) 69, 71. 141: G Ogilvy (Aus) 71, 70; K Ferrie (GB) 71, 70. 142: J Furyk 70, 72. 143: P Mickelson 70, 73; G McDowell (GB) 71, 72. 144: S Hend (Aus) 72, 72; B Bryant 72, 72. 145: D Clarke (GB) 73, 72; M Á Jiménez (Sp) 70, 75; V Singh (Fiji) 71, 74; N O’Hern (Aus) 75, 70; M Weir (Can) 71, 74. 146: F Funk 71, 75; C Villegas (Col) 74, 72; C Schwartzel (SA) 74, 72. 147: L Donald (GB) 78, 69; J Haas 75, 72; J B Holmes 74, 73; E Els (SA) 74, 73; B Van Pelt 72, 75; C Collins 76, 71; F Couples 73, 74; K Jones 73, 74; R Allenby 73, 74; Á Cabrera (Arg) 74, 73; J M Olazábal (Sp) 75, 72. 148: W Austin 72, 76; S Jones 74, 74; C Howell III 77, 71; S O’Hair 76, 72; K Perry 77, 71; S Kendall 73, 75; D Howell (GB) 70, 78; L Williams 75, 73; A Scott (Aus) 72, 76. 149: J M Singh (India) 73, 76; T Armour III 79, 70; T Pernice 79, 70; P Casey (GB) 77, 72; B Crane 77, 72; B Curtis 78, 71; T Herron 73, 76; R Imada (Japan) 76, 73; S Gangluff 76, 73; T Purdy 78, 71. 150: J Delsing 78, 72; A Doyle 76, 74; S Ames (Can) 72, 78; A Svoboda 75, 75. 151: D Waldorf 75, 76; C Pavin 76, 75; S Appleby (Aus) 72, 79; M Hensby (Aus) 73, 78; K J Choi (S Kor) 76, 75; J Mallinger 77, 74; L Glover 75, 76; T Clark (SA) 77, 74. 152: T Woods 76, 76; T Takayama (Japan) 77, 75; B Estes 80, 72; M Campbell (NZ) 75, 77; O Browne 80, 72; C DiMarco 76, 76; P Jacobsen 76, 76; K Stadler 71, 81; T Wood 74, 78; N Green (Aus) 77, 75; *B Horschel 75, 77; S Verplank 76, 76; B Jobe 76, 76.