Colin Montgomerie this morning withdrew from Scotland's team in the Alfred Dunhill Cup at St Andrews - a decision, which could be worth £100,000 to Sam Torrance. Montgomerie, Europe's number one and captain of the Scottish side seeded fourth, had to pull out of yesterday's pro-am after only five holes because of a tooth problem and despite taking medication felt unable to face Paraguayan Raul Fretes in today's opening group matches.
Ryder Cup team-mate Andrew Coltart was the first man contacted last night to act as standby, but at such short notice Coltart felt unable to leave wife Emma and month-old baby daughter Bonnie at home in Surrey. So 46-year-old Torrance, who partnered Montgomerie and Coltart to Scotland's only victory in the event in 1995, agreed to step in and on waking up this morning learnt that he had not made a wasted trip and that he would be partnering Open champion Paul Lawrie and Gary Orr.
Just by playing, Torrance, assistant captain to Mark James at last month's
Ryder Cup, was guaranteed £6,500, but the eventual winners on Sunday each walk away with £100,000.
Montgomerie went to his dentist on Tuesday for root canal work and a swelling developed on his right cheek yesterday. The rules of the event state that no player may be substituted once his team's first match has been called to the tee.
Scotland's clash with Paraguay, the tiny South American nation which defeated them in 1993, was the second match to begin at 10am and Montgomerie was due to be in the first game.
His withdrawal was a huge blow to the hopes of the host country, which if they win their round-robin group could face top seeds America - Ryder Cup trio Tom Lehman, Mark O'Meara and Payne Stewart - in Sunday morning's semi-finals.
Torrance's inclusion, of course, sets up the possibility of Torrance facing
Lehman, the man whose behaviour at Brookline he called disgusting. That referred to former Open champion Lehman joining the celebrations of
Justin Leonard's 45-foot putt even though Jose Maria Olazabal still had a chance to keep the cup alive.
