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Stewart on mind of Europeans Reuters October 28 9:36am ET | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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JEREZ, Spain -- Colin Montgomerie said Wednesday none of the field felt like playing in this week's Volvo Masters at Montecastillo following the death of American golfer Payne Stewart in a plane crash Monday.
As Montgomerie continued to deal with the death of the U.S. Open champion, he said the feeling would inevitably be even stronger at the Tour Championship in Houston. "I don't think any of us feel like playing here, and if you asked that question on the American Tour the answer would be a definite 'No,' " he said. "The guys who knew Payne Stewart and played beside him as a partner or an opponent will be feeling a great loss. To lose not only a golfer but to lose someone so prominent was a great shock to us all." Montgomerie, ranked third in the latest World Rankings, said the crash puts golf into perspective. "Knowing it could have been me, it could have been any of us, you sit back and take stock of what's around you and realize how fortunate you are," he said. "We just don't know. None of us knows what's around the corner. Here I am planning my 2000 schedule and, who knows, I may not even be around." Montgomerie flew to this Spanish venue in the same type of Learjet that Stewart perished in. "Flying is still and will remain the safest form of transport," Montgomerie said. "It's just unfortunate the odd accident happens and it's unfortunate it happened to one of us. It's a great shame." "Look at the motorways, the Paddington rail disaster -- people just on their way to work and look what happens. We're under a cloud this week. It doesn't matter, does it? It doesn't matter what happens." Montgomerie beat Stewart in their Ryder Cup singles match at Brookline last month despite repeated taunts from some spectators that Stewart tried his best to quell before conceding the match at the final hole. "I think it affected his game playing with me as much as it did my own," Montgomerie said. "It was as tough for him trying to control the situation as it was for me. I'm sure it was to the detriment of his own game, what he was doing. That was the last time I played with Payne Stewart on a golf course, and he did a marvelous job. It's such a shame." This 12th annual Volvo Masters means significantly less than it ever has before -- and not just because of Stewart's death. Instead of being the flagship event to decide who could be regarded as European No. 1 for the year -- and for most of next year as well -- it has become little more than a prelude to the new World Golf Championship event at Valderrama next week. Montecastillo succeeded Valderrama as host of the Volvo Masters in 1997, yet now finds itself playing second fiddle to the former venue which will decide the No. 1 for the year from both the European and American tours next week. Even if Montgomerie, who currently leads Lee Westwood by $709,500 on the European money list for the year, were to win this week with Westwood last in the 66-man field, he would not be certain of retaining his No. 1 status. Westwood or third-place Sergio Garcia would still beat him to the distinction of being Europe's best for the year by winning the $1 million winner's check at Valderrama. "I feel sorry for the sponsors that they don't have an Order of Merit champion at the end of this week," said Montgomerie, who is still likely to emerge as European No. 1 for a seventh successive year. "In other years with this kind of lead, I'd almost be home and dry. Now, even if I win this week I can be caught. "This event has lost some of its end-of-season appeal because it doesn't finish our season, just as the U.S. Tour Championship doesn't finish theirs." In the World Rankings, Montgomerie has hopes of catching David Duval by early April. But he held out no hope of overhauling No. 1 Tiger Woods, who won his sixth U.S. title of the year Sunday.
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