A GLUM Colin Montgomerie, one shot away from claiming his first major title on his last visit to the US, made an early exit from the US PGA Championship yesterday after a 71 for a four-over-par aggregate of 148.

It was too early to say what the halfway cut would be, but when the 43-year-old Scot finished he was joint 124th out of the 156-strong field and looking likely to be several shots too many.

"I played better today, but yesterday was disappointing, " he lamented over his opening 77 in which he hit just four fairways.

Although he had a good chance to win the US Open at Winged Foot in June, the same cannot be said for the other three majors this season in which he has missed the cut.

Montgomerie, the only Scot in the field and playing his 60th major, had been talking up his chances after practice, believing his lack of distance would not hamper him over the longest course in major history at 7561 yards.

The reason for that was the number of severe doglegs on the course. "I can hit driver to the corner so I won't be disadvantaged, " said Montgomerie who was joint sixth the last time the US PGA was contested at Medinah in 1999.

It was, however, his direction that was lacking this week. Starting at the 10th, two birdies in his opening four holes gave hope of a revival, but a dropped shot at the 18th set him back. "I knew then that I needed another four birdies. I made two of them but I made a couple of mistakes as well, " he said. "My game is just quite bitty at the moment and I need to find the rhythm."