Colin Montgomerie solid down stretch to lead at Shaw Charity Classic

CALGARY – Colin Montgomerie didn’t let what he referred to as a “wee wobble” slow him down during the first round of the Shaw Charity Classic.

After six birdies in his first 11 holes, Montgomerie bogied the par 3, 12th hole before a 40-foot putt from off the green to save par on the next hole.

“That gave me some confidence to play the last difficult four or five holes there,” said the 52-year-old Scotsman, who shot a 8-under 62 on the 7,086-yard, par 70 layout at Canyon Meadows Golf and Country Club on Friday.

Montgomerie birdied three of his last four holes to vault past Peter Senior and into the lead through the first of three rounds of play at the Champions Tour event.

“All in all, I got the most out of the round,” said Montgomerie, who equalled his best Champions Tour round of 62 that he shot in the final round of the Toshiba Classic in March 2014 when he finished in second. “I’m not one of these guys who’s going to say it should have been 59. For God’s sake, I got the most out of it.”

Playing for the first time in Calgary, Montgomerie said he’s delighted to have the first-round lead.

“That’s why we came in the first place, to try to get into contention and to do okay,” he said. “But it’s only the first round. It’s just a start, but it’s a good start and it’s a good base to work on.”

Playing in the last group of the day, Senior had a chance to overtake Montgomerie but missed birdie putts on his final three holes to finish with a 63.

“All in all, I haven’t played well for a long time, so it’s just nice to actually put a score on the board,” said Senior.

The 56-year-old golfer from Queensland, Australia will play in the Saturday’s final group along with Montgomerie and Scott McCarron, who finished in a six-way tie for third spot on Friday after shooting a 5-under 65.

“I haven’t played with Monty for a while,” said Senior. “We’ve been good mates for a long time, so that’s not going to be a problem. He’s a hell of a player and I’m looking forward to playing with him.”

Calgary’s Stephen Ames finished as the top Canadian after shooting 65 to finish in the logjam of golfers in third place.

“It’s nice just to play well wherever it is,” said Ames, who carded an even-par 70 on the first day of last year’s Shaw Charity Classic before shooting 4 over during his final two rounds to finish in a disappointing tie for 73rd.

“Today was a good score. Some of the guys were going down low, so I was like, ‘I’ve got to get things going,’ which I did and it was nice that I got the opportunity … and took advantage of it.”

Tommy Armour III, Corey Pavin, Michael Allen and Skip Kendall are also tied for third.

Rod Spittle of Niagara Falls, Ont., shot an even-par 70 to finish in a tie for 42nd with 13 other golfers.

“Really, I played pretty well all day,” said Spittle. “I made nine pars on the front nine and I made a birdie and a bogey on the back nine. It’s a decent start. I’ll try to do a little bit better the next couple days.”

Calgary’s Darryl James and Victoria’s Rick Gibson finished well back after both shooting 73. Jim Rutledge, also of Victoria, shot 75 to put him in second last spot in the 81-golfer field.