FROM HENMAN HILL TO HENMAN HOLE

Former Ryder Cup captain Sam Torrance is hoping that regular matches with Tim Henman - at golf not tennis - will pay dividends when he extends his record number of appearances on the European Tour this week.

The 55-year-old Scot, whose debut was way back in 1972, plays his 705th event in the Estoril Portuguese Open at Oitavos Dunes.

That is 81 more than anybody else - next in the table comes England's Barry Lane, who is also in the field - and Torrance said: "I've been playing three or four times a week at Sunningdale and playing a lot with Tim.

"He's very competitive and I've benefited from it. He's a one-handicapper and I give him one shot. He breaks par every time virtually and has shot 66 round the New Course.

"He's only 34 so he's 16 years away from the Seniors Tour, but he could compete right now."

Torrance won on the over-50s circuit in Barbados two weeks ago, but because they do not have their next event for over a month he sought and was granted an invitation to this week's Ј1.1million tournament.

"It might be delusions of grandeur, but I'm here to play, I know the course and I'm looking forward to it."

None of the 150-strong starting line-up are playing in The Masters next week, but Torrance is Augusta-bound as part of the BBC commentary team.

Another Scot is now in charge of the Ryder Cup team, of course, and he said of Colin Montgomerie taking over: "Monty will absolutely eat, sleep and drink Ryder Cup until it comes around.

"It's the best thing I ever did in golf. Colin has a wealth of experience as a player and all the desire in the world for the job."

Who serves as the assistants at Celtic Manor next year remains to be seen, but Torrance was not surprised that Jose Maria Olazabal has voiced doubts about doing it as Montgomerie hopes he will if he does not qualify for the team.

"You have to understand Ollie has done his stint as vice-captain (to Nick Faldo last year).

"It is a huge learning experience, but he doesn't want to be the second in command any more and that's exactly how he should feel."

Defending champion this week is Frenchman Gregory Bourdy, who beat former Ryder Cup star David Howell and Scot Alastair Forsyth in a play-off last April.

For Howell that was a welcome return to the spotlight after falling from ninth in the world to outside the top 200.

The Swindon golfer also finished seventh in The Open and third in the Johnnie Walker Championship and rose from 142nd on the Order of Merit to 45th.

But after seven events this season he has yet to finish in the top 30 and is down at 147th in the Race To Dubai.


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TORRANCE SET TO EXTEND RECORD

MARTIN OUT TO HALT THE SLIDE

Pablo Martin returns this week to the scene of one of the European Tour's most stunning victories - but he does so trying to halt one of the Tour's most stunning collapses.

Two April Fools Days ago Martin, just 20 at the time, became the first amateur to win in the circuit's 1,145-event history when he captured the Portuguese Open at Oitavos Dunes.

As a star of the American college scene the young Spaniard's talent was known about on both sides of the Atlantic and a glittering future looked assured.

He qualified for the US Open in the week he turned professional and, after being paired in the first two rounds with Sergio Garcia and Jose Maria Olazabal, beat them both in finishing 30th.

But while they prepare for next week's US Masters, Martin goes back to Cascais 724th in the world after missing the halfway cut in his last nine tournaments.

He has not had a single round under 70 in that run and it is not as if it is only since October that things have turned sour. He also missed nine cuts in a row last summer.

The former British boys champion - he was 15 when he won that - has turned to top coach Pete Cowen for help and said: "I think anybody can play good golf if you work on the right things.

"I have played good golf in the past and I am sure it is still there somewhere.

"It's putting things together and having patience. That's what people tell you, but nobody sees inside. I don't know - I work hard and wait.

"I have good memories in Portugal and I am looking forward to seeing if I can play well there."

The surroundings certainly seemed to reignite things last year when he opened with a course-record 63. But while Frenchman Gregory Bourdy matched it and went on to win, Martin slipped back to 15th.

He matched that at the Spanish Open next time out but then the missed cuts started again. They remain his best finishes as a professional.

In the past 10 months his golf has earned him less than Ј7,000 and his total career earnings still come nowhere near the Ј180,000 first prize he had to turn down two years ago because he was an amateur.

More worringly, his Tour exemption runs out at the end of this season.


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FUNDING BOOST FOR WALES

HARRINGTON CHASES HISTORIC HAT-TRICK

It might be a slight exaggeration to say that not a day has gone by without him thinking about it, but Padraig Harrington has certainly been longing for The Masters since last August.

Since the minute, in fact, that his eyes nearly burst out of their sockets, he condemned Sergio Garcia to another second place and he achieved something no European had done before - win back-to-back majors in the same year.

"I'm actually disappointed I'm seven months away from the next major, I don't know what I'm going to do," said Harrington.

What he has done, of course, is answer questions over and over again about his phenomenal Open and USPGA double and, of course, about the chance to do something even more astonishing at Augusta. It is a good job he likes talking.

The 37-year-old Dubliner has been in demand the world over ever since he won his first Open title at Carnoustie, but to convert that into three of the last six major titles almost defies belief.

Moments after completing his successful defence of The Open last July, Harrington expressed the magnitude of what he had just accomplished that day.

"You're in a special club when you've got two majors - and not too many guys wins back-to-back," he said.

Indeed they don't. The last European to achieve the feat at The Open was James Braid in 1906.

But better was to come.

Just three weeks later Harrington was holding the USPGA trophy as well after winning another duel with Garcia. And that lifted him into a totally different stratosphere.

No European had won that championship since Tommy Armour in 1930. No European had won consecutive majors since Armour added the 1931 Open. No player other than Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson had done it since Nick Price in 1994.

But now Augusta is finally almost upon him. The chance to make it three in a row - something only two golfers in history, Ben Hogan and Woods, have accomplished.

With Woods having focused on getting back fit for The Masters after being forced out of the game by reconstructive knee surgery following his staggering US Open triumph last June, the opening major of 2009 has more than one big story line.

There is also Greg Norman's return after seven years to the tournament that has given him so much heartache, courtesy of his remarkable performance at Birkdale, and there are the debuts of three teenagers - 19-year-old rising Irish star Rory McIlroy, New Zealand's 18-year-old US Amateur champion Danny Lee and 17-year-old Japanese sensation Ryo Ishikawa.

But Harrington knows he will never enter a major with so big a spotlight on him. Unless he wins again, of course. Imagine what it would be like approaching a 'Paddy Slam' attempt in the US Open at Bethpage in June.

"It's a lot easier to win tournaments when you're under the radar," he stated.

"I'm delighted that Tiger and Greg will be there, any deflection I can get would be great, but I know I will have more focus, which will make it harder to play my own game.

"I think it's going to come down to me managing my expectations better compared with other people's expectations, especially my start.

"In the past I never believed the expectations people had for me and my way of managing that was to underplay them.

"Yet when you become a major champion you put yourself under pressure to play to a higher standard.

"But what if someone else has the week of their life? As long as I stick to the same processes and keep getting myself into contention I am happy to see how it works out.

"It would be very easy getting caught up in the Thursday round in being cautious. People are asking you 'Are you going to win it?' and you're afraid of losing it.

"I think that's a silly way to start a tournament because you have to go out and win it. It's not yours to lose.

"I will prepare for the Masters as I would any other tournament. I will definitely spend time with (sports psychologist) Bob Rotella thinking about how I'm going to approach the tournament.

"The key is to get out there with a comfortable mindset. I'll try to take the result out of the equation and try not to think about winning or losing - but that's hard to do when people are asking you."

What he cannot prepare for, of course, is the unknown. But the unknown has helped him in all his major successes.

"In each of them something happened that I could not have bargained for," he added.

"At Carnoustie it was my son running onto the green on the 72nd hole and taking my mind off what had just happened.

"At Birkdale it was the wrist injury taking the stress out of defending my title, while at the USPGA I got dehydrated, but the rain delay on the Saturday gave me a chance to recover."

The two wins last year came with stunning displays on the back nine and the memory of those give him an edge over the vast majority of the field if he can get into position again.

"A major feels like a marathon. I feel like I can be patient and take my time.

"I love the feeling of knowing that it's going to come down to who can do it under pressure in the last nine holes.

"I love the idea of the back nine of a major on a Sunday."

And now everybody knows it.


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TORRANCE SET TO EXTEND RECORD

Sam Torrance is to take his record number of starts on the European Tour to 705 after being given a sponsor's invite to next week's Portuguese Open.

Last week the 55-year-old former Ryder Cup captain won the Barbados Open on the Seniors Tour by four shots, but the next tournament on that circuit is not until May.

Torrance is the only player in European Tour history to reach 700 tournaments. It is more than 80 more than anybody else and Colin Montgomerie this week became only the 18th to appear in 500 as a professional.


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MONTY SET FOR LANDMARK APPEARANCE

MONTY STRUGGLES IN SEVILLE

Colin Montgomerie struggled to stay in touch on Friday as German Marcel Siem and England's Graeme Storm turned on the style at the Andalucian Open in Seville.

Playing his 500th European Tour event as a professional, Montgomerie was only one behind fellow Scot Chris Doak after an opening 67.

But Europe's new Ryder Cup captain, whose last top 10 finish was nearly nine months ago, managed only a level par 72 on his return and, with Doak taking 73, it was all change at the top.

Siem scored 67 to reach nine under and Storm a 66 to be only one behind along with France's Jean-Francois Lucquin. Montgomerie is four adrift in joint 11th place with Doak and, despite his gloomy mood, still very much in it.

After mixing five birdies with five bogeys, the last of them on the 18th when he failed to get up and down from a greenside bunker, the eight-time European No 1 displayed his disappointment by declining a request for a television interview.

Within minutes he was heading back to his hotel, commenting on his way: "I was just completely out of sync today.

"I played very badly and 72 is what you get when you play that way."

Having spoken the day before of how much more relaxed he was on the course following his Ryder Cup appointment, there was also an incident when he felt the need to have words with a photographer as his round threatened to fall apart.

Then came four birdies in the final six holes, but two more bogeys

left him far from happy.

The key to Siem's week is that he has managed not to lose his temper so far.

"I think I will never change completely, but I am pretty calm at the moment," commented the 28-year-old, who even kept his cool when three-putting the last for bogey.

"I said to my caddie that I feel like Retief Goosen - I don't have any emotions."

He told the story of two years ago in Cologne when he broke his driver after missing the cut.

"There were a couple of children around. I nearly cried, thought how can I do this, then went up to them and said 'Don't do this ever'.

"I should be a boxer or a footballer when I can show my emotions."

Storm is happy to be finding his form again after having his clubs stolen in Dubai last month.

"I was watching Liverpool against Chelsea on tv. At 10.30pm they were still there and at 10.45 gone.

"I put in a police report, but somebody is enjoying playing with them in the sunshine in Dubai.

"There was a two-iron I'd had for years, a lob wedge specially made for me and a new driver that I loved. It was a massive loss."

Jose Maria Olazabal missed the cut on four over in only his fifth event since last May, but said he still intends to be at The Masters in two weeks unless his health problems - rheumatism and fatigue - worsen.

Whether Dane Anders Hansen or Swede Peter Hanson are there looks doubtful now.

They both have to finish in the top three to have a chance of climbing into the world's top 50 just in time for Augusta, but Hansen is two under and Hansen, yet to play The Masters, needed three birdies in the last four to squeeze through the cut on level par.


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MENTAL MISTAKES COSTING MONTY

MENTAL MISTAKES COSTING MONTY

Colin Montgomerie insists he must stop making mental errors if he wants to end nearly two years without a win.

Second after an opening 67 at the Andalucian Open in Seville - his 500th European Tour event as a professional - Europe's Ryder Cup captain finished outside the top 30 after closing rounds of 75 and 74.

"I wasted dozens of shots this week and the last time I played," stated Montgomerie, who has not had a top-10 finish since the start of July last year.

"It's not good enough. I just seem to be making mental mistakes that I never ever made, there are so many creeping in that weren't there before.

"To compete and win I've got to stop them. I'll have a think, come back and try again."

Having failed to qualify for The Masters - he is down at 137th in the world - his next tournament is the Volvo China Open in three weeks.

Montgomerie is taking his family skiing before then, although he will not be taking to the slopes himself for fear of injuring himself.

The shot which had him most annoyed during the event was an eight iron into a bunker at the end of his third round.

"Just hopeless, terrible," commented the eight-time Order of Merit winner.

He ended the week with another gift, however. After a cake, an engraved ice bucket and some champagne came three bottles of wine bearing his nickname "Monty".


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WOODS LURKING AS GORE LEADS

Tiger Woods overcame a return of the red mist but also rediscovered his putting at Bay Hill for a solid start to the defence of his Arnold Palmer Invitational title in Orlando.

The world number one showed his angry side following some wayward driving off the tee but made amends by needing just 24 putts at Bay Hill to end the day with a two-under-par 68, three shots back on the first-round lead held by Jason Gore, who fired an opening 65 at the end of the day on the par-70, 7,239-yard course.

Woods, making his third start of the year following his recovery from reconstructive knee surgery last summer and coming off a tie for ninth at Doral in the WGC-CA Championship two weeks ago, got off to a flying start by chipping in at the first from 33 yards.

A double-bogey seven at the sixth hole began a mid-round wobble which saw him stuck behind trees from consecutive tee shots at the eighth and ninth.

Both times Wood scrambled for par before making four birdies in a row between the 11th and 14th holes, even after throwing down his driver at the 12th following yet another errant tee shot.

Woods bogeyed the 17th but was pleased with the way he had turned his day around.

Having been knocked out in the second round of the WGC-Accenture Match Play on his return to competition in February and then finished in a tie for ninth at Doral two weeks ago in the WGC-CA Championship, Woods admitted Thursday's round at Bay Hill had been the first time during his comeback where he had had to deal with his anger.

"No doubt," Woods said. "The first two tournaments I didn't have it because I was hitting it so well.

"Today I was not hitting it well, and I had to scramble and grind it out and manage to score, and it's just really not too hard to shoot rounds under par when you're hitting a bunch of fairways and a bunch of greens like I did down at Doral.

"Today was different. I had to manage my game."

At Doral, Woods had been frustrated by missed putts along wrong lines but at Bay Hill, where he has already won five times, his putter proved his saviour, particularly at the ninth.

"I got a drop there and somehow hit up there around the green and just hit a terrible pitch, came out really hot, and it was nice to make about a 15-footer for par there just to keep momentum going on the back nine.

"It was nice to hit one on line and know what it was supposed to do."

Gore, playing on a sponsor's invitation from Palmer after falling outside the top 126 on the PGA Tour money list, had brought up the rear in one of the last groups out and finished with a flourish with three birdies in his last four holes.

"It's the first time in a long time I didn't suck," Gore joked.

Gore leads fellow Americans Tim Herron, the 1999 champion, and Jeff Overton by a shot with six players on three under, including veteran former US Open champion Lee Janzen and the in-form Nick Watney, also of the USA.

With only 21 players breaking par, Padraig Harrington was in a large group of players on level par after shooting a 70.

Sweden's Richard S. Johnson and Japan's Ryuji Imada also posted 70s while the latter's teenage compatriot Ryo Ishikawa suffered a quadruple-bogey nine at the sixth on his way to a 76.

India's Jeev Milkha Singh, Brian Davis of England and Northern Ireland's Graeme McDowell finished on one over par, as did reigning Master champion Trevor Immelman of South Africa, while England's Oliver Wilson was a shot further back after a 74.

It was a day of struggle for four Englishmen. Justin Rose finished at five over with Ross Fisher and Greg Owen, who closed birdie, bogey, bogey, double bogey, double bogey, on six over. Ian Poulter hit a 77 but Australian Jason Day fared worse, withdrawing after nine holes having complained of dizziness and nausea.

Collated first round scores in the USPGA Tour Arnold Palmer Invitational pres. by MasterCard, Bay Hill Club & Lodge, Orlando, Florida, United States of America

(USA unless stated, par 70):

65 Jason Gore

66 Jeff Overton, Tim Herron

67 Nick Watney, Hunter Mahan, Sean O'Hair, Lee Janzen, Stuart Appleby (Aus), Mark Wilson

68 J J Henry, Tiger Woods, Daniel Chopra (Swe), Chad Campbell, Brian Gay, Rocco Mediate, Skip Kendall

69 Kevin Na, Jerry Kelly, Steve Lowery, Heath Slocum, Johnson Wagner

70 Vaughn Taylor, Harrison Frazar, James Nitties (Aus), Webb Simpson, Tommy Armour III, Ben Crane, Bill Haas, Ryuji Imada (Jpn), Pat Perez, John Senden (Aus), Steve Flesch, Stewart Cink, Brad Faxon, Kenny Perry, Richard S Johnson (Swe), George McNeill, Mathew Goggin (Aus), Scott Verplank, Padraig Harrington (Irl)

71 Bart Bryant, David Toms, Nick O'Hern (Aus), Charles Howell III, Mike Weir (Can), Stephen Ames (Can), Brian Davis (Eng), Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind), Graeme McDowell (NIrl), Lucas Glover, Scott Piercy, Kevin Streelman, Robert Allenby (Aus), Trevor Immelman (Rsa), Mark Calcavecchia, D.J. Trahan

72 Bill Lunde, Zach Johnson, Kyle Stanley, Adam Scott (Aus), Oliver Wilson (Eng), Woody Austin, Tom Lehman, Todd Hamilton, Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa), Peter Lonard (Aus), Billy Andrade, Boo Weekley, Corey Pavin, Marc Turnesa

73 Robert Gamez, Davis Love III, Chris DiMarco, Angel Cabrera (Arg), Bubba Watson, D.A. Points, Steve Marino, J.B. Holmes, Brandt Snedeker

74 Brendon De Jonge, Chris Stroud, Retief Goosen (Rsa), David Duval, Ben Curtis, Greg Kraft, Cliff Kresge, Jeff Klauk, Bob Estes, John Rollins, Vijay Singh (Fij), Paul Goydos, Brett Quigley, Ryan Palmer, Ken Duke, Nicholas Thompson

75 Aaron Baddeley (Aus), Erik Compton, John Merrick, Justin Rose (Eng), Cameron Beckman, Andrew Magee

76 Ryo Ishikawa (Jpn), Will MacKenzie, Fredrik Jacobson (Swe), Ross Fisher (Eng), Jason Dufner, Greg Owen (Eng)

77 Michael Campbell (Nzl), Notah Begay III, Ian Poulter (Eng), Ted Purdy

78 Rodney Pampling (Aus), Jim Furyk, Carl Pettersson (Swe), Richard Sterne (Rsa)

79 Parker McLachlin

80 Billy Mayfair, Fred Couples

82 Steve Lamontagne


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