Montgomerie Wins Skins Game

INDIO, Calif. (AP) â€” Colin Montgomerie, a Scot with a dry sense of humor, seemed greatly amused at the idea of winning $415,000 by simply making two routine pars. <br><br>While he was shorter off the

Monday, November 27th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

INDIO, Calif. (AP) â€” Colin Montgomerie, a Scot with a dry sense of humor, seemed greatly amused at the idea of winning $415,000 by simply making two routine pars.

While he was shorter off the tee than the others in the foursome, and also struggled with his irons and putter, Montgomerie's timing was impeccable in his first Skins Game.

His luck wasn't all that bad, either.

Montgomerie earned $340,000 with an uneventful par 5 on the third playoff hole Sunday after defending champion and all-time top Skins Game money-winner Fred Couples detoured through sand, bushes and water on his way to the green.

``I must come here again,'' Montgomerie, a twinkle in his eye, said after his rich payday.

Vijay Singh finished second with $260,000 for the tournament, and Sergio Garcia was next with $200,000. Couples finished last for the first time in his eight appearances with $125,000.

On the first day, Montgomerie won $75,000 with a basic par 3 on No. 5 after the other three all bogeyed. Afterward, he thanked them.

Garcia, whose game was the sharpest of the four players during the two-day event, was rather amazed that Montgomerie came up the big winner.

``He usually plays better than that. But the Skins Game is all about luck,'' said the 20-year-old Spaniard, who had nine birdies to Montgomerie's three.

Montgomerie, one of Europe's best players and a runner-up three times in majors in the United States, agreed with Garcia.

``There is a lot of luck involved,'' he said. ``I didn't actually play very well and I think my playing partners would agree. I ended up being very fortunate.''

He was fortunate on the final hole of regulation, when he hit into the water and didn't finish the hole. But Singh made a birdie putt to tie Garcia and send the foursome into a playoff.

Montgomerie was fortunate again on the first extra hole, coming up with his best shot of the tournament, a 25-foot chip that dropped for a birdie and tied Couples, whose 45-foot eagle try died an inch from the cup. Those two remained in the playoff, while Singh and Garcia had pars and were eliminated.

Montgomerie's run of luck continued on the second playoff hole, when Couples lipped out a 6-foot birdie putt that would have ended it.

On the third playoff hole, Couples, who had won the Skins Game a year earlier when he hit out of a shrub on the final hole and scrambled to a birdie, seemed to be headed in that direction again. But this time there was no escaping trouble.

He hit his drive on the 563-yard par-5 No. 18 into a fairway bunker, then his shot out of the sand hit the lip and struck a golf cart before finally coming to rest in the brush. From there, he bounced his next shot into the lake in front of the green.

``I might lose a little sleep over that one,'' Couples, who has won $2.125 million in his eight Skins Game appearances, said of the nightmarish finish .

Montgomerie wrapped it up with an anticlimactic tap-in.

The two holes he won, including the $200,000 ``super skin'' for No. 18, were good for a total of six skins.

Singh won $210,000 with an 8-foot birdie putt on the 183-yard, par-3 No. 15 after winning one hole worth $50,000 the first day.

``I played decent golf and had an enjoyable two days,'' said Singh, the Masters champion from Fiji who had competed in the skins format previously in other parts of the world but was making his Skins Game debut.

Garcia earned $50,000 for winning the 12th hole when he nestled his wedge shot within 3 feet and sank the birdie putt. He won two holes worth a total of $150,000 the first day.

While he did not have a great closing day, the charismatic youngster gained a new fan.

Garcia hit â€” then charmed â€” a fan on the 14th hole, when his drive bounced into the gallery and struck a woman on the cheek. Garcia not only apologized profusely, he kissed the woman on the cheek.

Asked afterward if worrying about hitting her had ruined his concentration, Garcia grinned sheepishly and said, ``After I hit her, I made two more birdies. She was fine. I gave her a couple of kisses and she looked happy.''

The first six holes were worth $25,000 each, the next six $50,000, Nos. 13-17 $70,000, and No. 18 worth $200,000. In the Skins Game, when a player wins a hole outright, he earns the money designated for that hole. If two or more players tie the hole, all four are considered tied â€” except in a playoff â€” and the prize money carries over to the next hole.