General / Editor / 21 June 2007 /

Colin Montgomerie has been forced to pull out of the BMW International Open in Munich, Germany, because of illness.

The Scot fell ill on his journey back to London after featuring in a pro-am in Canada on Monday following his disappointing performance at the US Open at Oakmont last weekend, where he missed the cut.

With no sign of the illness clearing up ahead of his scheduled flight to Germany, he had no alternative but to withdraw from the event, which got underway on Thursday morning.

Montgomerie's manager Guy Kinnings said: "He was sick overnight Tuesday and all day Wednesday."

Meanwhile, Montgomerie is being tipped to reveal his latest caddie within the next week following the recent split with Alastair McLean.

Kinnings confirmed that around 30 names for a permanent replacement had been drawn up and a decision is due to be made following a meeting on Monday.

The illness is another blow to Monty's attempts to win a ninth Order of Merit title, with the Scot currently in 32nd in the standings having made €370,000.

In an emerging market, Henrik Stenson is the 2.22 favourite to finish the season as the European Tour's top money winner. Paul Casey, €472,000 behind Stenson, trades at 9.4 while Padraig Harrington and Retief Goosen can both be backed at 11.

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