ANOTHER major slips by, another glimpse of the two Colin Montgomeries. Those who believe there is more than one person inside the Scot's body would have had such a theory endorsed by his behaviour over three days at Birkdale.

On Friday, after returning a 75 in relatively benign conditions, it was the full Monty; gushing, delighted to have made the cut. Onlookers could even sense Montgomerie felt he had a realistic chance of competing for the Claret Jug. He claimed to be "quite proud" of his efforts. Marital harmony, it appeared, was rubbing off on his professional life.

Less than a day later, having carded an impressive 74 amid gusts which would surely put a severe dent in the golf ball supplies of even scratch golfers, 38 seconds was all Montgomerie was willing to spare. An overtly negative 38 seconds, at that.

"It was average, very average," he said, rather strangely. Put into context, Lee Westwood, many people's tip for Open glory, had just struggled to a 78, Phil Mickelson later carded 76.

Therein lies the great Montgomerie conundrum. When he is off form, he often talks up his game, while on occasions such as yesterday, when he is worthy of praise, self-criticism is the order of the day. The genial people's friend one minute, his own worst enemy the next. A bogey at the 18th yesterday, admittedly, would not have helped his mindset.

He insisted: "You could see the course was playable. That was a very average score. Those weren't the toughest Open conditions I have experienced; Muirfield in 2002, when I went off second last, I'll never ever beat that."

They were almost the words of someone who felt their time in such company had come to an end, but Montgomerie maintained he will never tire of Open championships even if, by his own standards, he is off form.

An aggregate score of 12 over par is not sufficiently retrievable that Montgomerie can challenge the leaders today, even allowing for yesterday's gusts. Making the cut, given what should be a realistic level of expectation for a player who has failed to last past Friday in his previous two Opens, was a decent achievement.

He is currently ranked 81st in the world and therefore hardly guaranteed of a decent exemption status, let alone a major championship victory.

Montgomerie has only managed six birdies in 54 Birkdale holes, his superb approach shot from the rough on the 16th yesterday a rare moment of brilliance. Another shot should have been collected a hole later, but the 45-year-old's putt from the fringe was clumsy, slipped eight feet past, and Montgomerie duly missed his birdie opportunity.

In replicating events on Friday, a poor opening to his round had proved costly. Three over after seven holes, par putts missed on each occasion, a further dropped shot at the 10th rendered aspirations of a charge up the leaderboard redundant.

There was the routine snarling and snapping at officials, spectators and concern from Montgomerie after his drive at the 12th that the wind was moving his ball when it should have been stationary. A day earlier, he had taken it upon himself to hand count the number of people walking inside the fairway ropes – 36, to be precise – and point that out to his match referee.

Putting totals of 29, 30 and 29 over three rounds may be consistent, but such figures remain overly high for someone who wishes to compete at this level. He has only actually returned nine bogeys, but three double bogeys and one triple have proved damaging.

Montgomerie has a clear admirer in Henrik Stenson, his playing partner yesterday and almost certain to be a member of Nick Faldo's Ryder Cup team in September. Stenson believes Montgomerie is worthy of selection and a prominent role.

"It was great fun playing with Colin, as always," said the Swede, who shot 70 to remain at eight over.

"If you do well in this tournament, you get a lot of Ryder Cup points. Certainly I am close to being in the Ryder Cup team. Colin loves it more than anyone, he has great experience and he would be a natural leader for the team."

Faldo's comments last midweek make such a scenario appear unlikely unless Montgomerie's fortunes improve in the coming weeks. Whether he chooses to admit it or not, yesterday represented progress; who knows what the course, and his mood, will bring today.