Colin Montgomerie avoids bogeys to lead by two at Sherwood

Colin Montgomerie shot a seven-under-par 65, nearly holing his approach on the 18th hole, and Fred Couples shot a 68 in his first competitive round in eight months Friday in the PowerShares QQQ Championship at Sherwood Country Club.

Returning from a chronic back injury, the 57-year-old Couples had three straight birdies on the back nine in the PGA Tour Champions’ playoff opener. He was tied for eighth.

“Honestly, I could have shot 80 and been OK with it because my goals were just to be able to swing and play,” Couples said. “Today was just a very nice day. Just to get out of the house and walk around and see if I’ve made any progress in the last seven months.”

Montgomerie birdied the first three holes, and had four more on the back nine. He won in Canada this season for his fourth 50-plus tour title and is fourth in the Charles Schwab Cup standings.

“Even Ben Hogan allowed himself two mistakes a round of golf, so no bogeys around here is good, very good and that was key today,” Montgomerie said. “Hit the fairways, hit the greens. Fairways and greens, that’s what this course is all about.”

Bernhard Langer, who tops the standings, withdrew without hitting a shot. He aggravated a left knee injury at home in Florida, had an MRI on Monday and wasn’t able to play a practice round.

Fred Funk was two strokes back at 67 along with Scott McCarron, Jim Carter, Joey Sindelar, Jerry Smith and Brandt Jobe. John Daly shot a 71.

Couples played the rainy front nine in one under with a birdie on the par-five fifth. He birdied the 10th, dropped a stroke on the par-five 11th, then birdied the next three holes.

“Playing in that rain early, it just kind of made the course maybe, I hate to say, easier,” Couples said. “But it was really hard, the greens were rock hard and that little rain I think helped us. There were a lot of good scores in the morning.”

The top 72 players on the money list earned spots at Sherwood. The playoff field will be cut to 54 next week in Richmond, Va., and to 36 the next week for the Charles Schwab Cup Championship in Scottsdale, Ariz.