After failing this week to qualify for the US Open and a tired-looking display in the Saab Wales Open yesterday, Colin Montgomerie faces 36 more holes of qualifying on Monday, this time for a place in The British Open at Sandwich.
If he fails to make it through - he has succeeded so twice in the past - there may be a question mark as to whether he will play in another major in his career.
"I now have to make sure I qualify for The [British] Open next Monday, because that is very important to me," Montgomerie said. "I've played in The Open for 21 years in a row."
It was only last Sunday that the Scot, 48 later this month, finished seventh in the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth - his first top-10 finish for almost three years.
But yesterday he crashed to his worst 36-hole score in Europe for more than 20 years at Celtic Manor - the same course where he led Europe to Ryder Cup victory last October. The eight-time European No 1 added a 79 to his opening 78 in the Wales Open and on 15-over par exited the event lying in joint last place.
"I'm not 25 any more, and the last few days have taken their toll," Montgomerie told reporters.
"Last week's finish [at Wentworth] unfortunately comes only once in a blue moon now, and here I've come back to earth with a bump.
Not since the 1991 Benson and Hedges International at St Mellion in 1991, when he shot 80-81 to be 17 over, has Montgomerie fared worse on European soil in his professional career. And he was only 110th on that occasion - this time he was in joint 153rd spot midway through the day's play.
Alexander Noren birdied four of the last five holes for a second round 4-under 67 to lead the tournament at 8 under.
Perhaps Montgomerie can take some solace in the fact that he was not the only golfer struggling this weekend, as Japan's Ryo Ishikawa missed the cut at the Japan Golf Tour Championship.
Ishikawa, at 19 almost 30 years younger than the Scot, struggled to finish 18 over, the worst card in his three-year old professional career.
But Ishikawa does have something Montgomerie does not have - an exemption for the US Open on June 16 in Bethesda, Maryland.
* Agencies
The Scale for Clinical Actionability of Molecular Targets
MWTC
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THE APPRENTICE
Director: Ali Abbasi
Starring: Sebastian Stan, Maria Bakalova, Jeremy Strong
Rating: 3/5
What it means to be a conservationist
Who is Enric Sala?
Enric Sala is an expert on marine conservation and is currently the National Geographic Society's Explorer-in-Residence. His love of the sea started with his childhood in Spain, inspired by the example of the legendary diver Jacques Cousteau. He has been a university professor of Oceanography in the US, as well as working at the Spanish National Council for Scientific Research and is a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Biodiversity and the Bio-Economy. He has dedicated his life to protecting life in the oceans. Enric describes himself as a flexitarian who only eats meat occasionally.
What is biodiversity?
According to the United Nations Environment Programme, all life on earth – including in its forests and oceans – forms a “rich tapestry of interconnecting and interdependent forces”. Biodiversity on earth today is the product of four billion years of evolution and consists of many millions of distinct biological species. The term ‘biodiversity’ is relatively new, popularised since the 1980s and coinciding with an understanding of the growing threats to the natural world including habitat loss, pollution and climate change. The loss of biodiversity itself is dangerous because it contributes to clean, consistent water flows, food security, protection from floods and storms and a stable climate. The natural world can be an ally in combating global climate change but to do so it must be protected. Nations are working to achieve this, including setting targets to be reached by 2020 for the protection of the natural state of 17 per cent of the land and 10 per cent of the oceans. However, these are well short of what is needed, according to experts, with half the land needed to be in a natural state to help avert disaster.
Zayed Sustainability Prize
The years Ramadan fell in May
Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
MATCH INFO
Manchester City 1 Chelsea 0
De Bruyne (70')
Man of the Match: Kevin de Bruyne (Manchester City)
What are NFTs?
Are non-fungible tokens a currency, asset, or a licensing instrument? Arnab Das, global market strategist EMEA at Invesco, says they are mix of all of three.
You can buy, hold and use NFTs just like US dollars and Bitcoins. “They can appreciate in value and even produce cash flows.”
However, while money is fungible, NFTs are not. “One Bitcoin, dollar, euro or dirham is largely indistinguishable from the next. Nothing ties a dollar bill to a particular owner, for example. Nor does it tie you to to any goods, services or assets you bought with that currency. In contrast, NFTs confer specific ownership,” Mr Das says.
This makes NFTs closer to a piece of intellectual property such as a work of art or licence, as you can claim royalties or profit by exchanging it at a higher value later, Mr Das says. “They could provide a sustainable income stream.”
This income will depend on future demand and use, which makes NFTs difficult to value. “However, there is a credible use case for many forms of intellectual property, notably art, songs, videos,” Mr Das says.
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