HONG KONG, Dec 2: European champion Colin Montgomerie stormed into contention at the UBS Hong Kong Open with a four-under-par 66 on Friday as pre-tournament favourite Paul Casey dramatically missed the cut.

Leader Rick Gibson of Canada also shot 66 to be nine-under 131, one ahead of American Edward Loar and two better than Sweden’s Martin Erlandsson at the par-70 Hong Kong Golf Club.

Montgomerie was four shots back, level with defending champion Miguel Angel Jimenez who shot 67 in the 1.2-million-dollar event co-sanctioned by the European and Asian tours.

Denmark’s Thomas Bjorn was seven shots adrift after a horror story on the 17th hole left him with a 68 and two-round total of two-under-par 138.

But Ryder Cup star Casey fell a shot short of the halfway cut, set at one over par, after rounds of 74 and 68 — and just days after he won his fifth European title at the Volvo China Open.

Meanwhile ‘Monty’, reinvigorated by his eighth European Order of Merit win, bounced back from an opening-day 69 with his sparkling 66 for five-under 135.

A remarkable save on the par-four sixth — where he had to punch out from some trees — and a chip-in birdie on seven were the highlights of his blemish-free, four-birdie round.

Starting at the 10th, Montgomerie turned at two-under after birdies on 12 and 17. He drew warm applause with the save on six before holing a 40-foot chip on seven and a five-foot birdie putt on nine.

Denmark’s Bjorn endured a putting nightmare on the 17th hole, needing three attempts from four feet and coming out with double-bogey.

Leading scores:

131 - Rick Gibson (CAN) 65-66

132 - Edward Loar (USA) 68-64

133 - Martin Erlandsson (SWE) 65-68

134 - Andrew Butterfield (ENG) 69-65, Kang Wook-soon (KOR) 64-70

135 - Colin Montgomerie (SCO) 69-66, Scott Strange (AUS) 71-64, Soren Kjeldsen (DEN) 66-69, Marcus Both (AUS) 67-68, Francois Delamontagne (FRA) 66-69

136 - Thongchai Jaidee (THA) 68-68, Jyoti Randhawa (IND) 65-71, Miguel Angel Jimenez (ESP) 69-67, Marc Cayeux (ZIM) 68-68

Sun City scores

SUN CITY: Leading scores after the second round of the Sun City Golf Challenge played at the par-72 Gary Player Country Club on Friday: