A three under par 69 during the making of which he reckons he swung the club as well as he has for years, lifted the 44-year-old Scot away from the cut zone to level par, six behind French rookie Michael Lorenzo-Vera.

But it took nearly five hours to complete and Montgomerie said afterwards: "Golf's got too slow - that's my bugbear in life.

"Five hours is an hour too long. There's no reason why we can't get round any course anywhere in the world in any conditions in four.

"The deterrents have got to be tougher - that works in any walk of life. If there is a serious one it's amazing how quick it could be.

"I think we are all working together on it and it's a matter of trying to get it all together and try to make it fair for everybody."

It was only two weeks that Montgomerie was on the same subject and he commented then: "I'm a quick player and there's no doubt that the slow play of others has hurt me over the years."

Three years ago at the Irish Open England's Simon Khan was given an £8,000 fine for taking 16 seconds too long over a shot - and that followed a £4,000 fine the previous week.

But the issue was back in the news at Augusta last month when winner Trevor Immelman and American Brandt Snedeker took five hours 10 minutes to play the last round.

The Scot, whose 88th position on the world rankings is his worst since 1990, was in danger of missing the halfway cut when he resumed on three over.

But he made four birdies and his only bogey came as a result of a clubbing error.

"Apart from that I played very well and that's the way I used to play golf. I've been working hard and that was super."

Always a fan of tough lay-outs, he did not launch an attack on the course set-up in the way that Darren Clarke and Paul McGinley have been this week.

McGinley called it "a monster" and Clarke reckoned it was "ridiculously difficult" after his opening 72.

However, the Irish pair are still well in the hunt at two under and three under respectively with 36 holes to go, while defending champion Padraig Harrington stands one under and Lee Westwood one over.