Monty, Thongchai have 'Masters' plan<\/p>\n
Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
With the time ticking away until April's U.S. Masters,
\nScotland's Colin Montgomerie is not alone in considering a win at
\nthe Standard Chartered Indonesia Open 2005 here crucial to
\nqualifying for Augusta.<\/p>\n
Asian number one Thongchai Jaidee of Thailand, currently 65th
\non the PGA Tour ranking list, and Ireland's Paul McGinley (62)
\nare also seeking to qualify for the Grand Slam event by winning
\nthe remaining ranking points on offer in Jakarta.<\/p>\n
"I will try to win here so that the rest will take care of
\nitself," Montgomerie, 41, said during a media conference at
\nCengkareng Golf Course, the tournament venue, on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
"So far I am pleased with my consistent performance this
\nyear."<\/p>\n
The four-day cosanctioned European and Asian Tour tournament
\nbegins on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Montgomerie, currently 54th in the rankings after starting the
\nyear at 83, must make the top 50 by March 28 to qualify for the
\nMasters.<\/p>\n
He came close to that goal last week at the TCL Classic in
\nChina. A win would have assured him a place in the Masters, but
\nhe slipped from joint leader to sixth in the final round.<\/p>\n
The seven-time European champion knows he will have to work
\nhard for a victory here, and he noted the strong draw, with good
\nplayers from Europe and Asia.<\/p>\n
Montgomerie -- who is noticeably slimmer from the days when he
\nrivaled John Daly as the heaviest player on the tour -- has tried
\nto acclimatize himself to the Jakarta heat since arriving three
\ndays ago.<\/p>\n
He said the course was in good condition, with the probability
\nof low scoring rounds making it difficult to pass Friday's cut.<\/p>\n
Thongchai, who was also at the media conference, also
\nrecognized the importance of the Jakarta event to the rankings.<\/p>\n
"I have to win this tournament because if I do, I will have a
\nchance to play in the U.S. Masters."<\/p>\n
Despite his high target, Thongchai said he was not feeling the
\npressure because he was used to competing against the sport's top
\nplayers.<\/p>\n
"I have played in a lot on the European Tour. This time, I
\njust have to play my own game."<\/p>\n
Thongchai also praised the condition of the course, and said
\nhe was happy to play in Indonesia again after competing in the
\n1997 Southeast Asia (SEA) Games in Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Montgomerie, Thongchai along with India's Arjun Atwal are in
\nthe same playing group on Thursday, with a tee-off time of 7:50
\na.m., and the back nine scheduled to start at 12:40 p.m.<\/p>\n
McGinley, who finished second in China last week, as well as
\nAsian Tour and Chinese top golf player Zhang Lian-Wei, are other
\nbig names in the 145-player draw.<\/p>\n
Five local players -- Reindert "Randy" Alexander Mawuntu,
\nSukamdi, Kasiadi, Asep Caprie Supriatna and A Ilyassyak -- are
\nalso competing.<\/p>\n
Randy is determined to make the cut in order to gain valuable
\nexperience from playing some of the world's best.<\/p>\n
"I just want to play as long as possible," he said. "It will
\nprovide a lot of lessons to me and a good image for Indonesia in
\ngolf."<\/p>",
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