Newly-wed Monty looks to reign in Spain

(CNN) -- Colin Montgomerie returns to tournament action at the Spanish Open this week after getting married for the second time last month.

Monty, who is struggling to automatically qualify for this year's European Ryder Cup team, will make what he calls "a new start" when the tournament tees off in Seville on Thursday.

The Scot tied the knot after his failure to qualify for the Masters and is looking to revive a flagging season with a sixth place finish in Qatar and joint ninth in the WGC World Match Play in Arizona his best finishes.

Montgomerie has slipped outside the top 30 in the Ryder Cup standings and is down to 74th in the world rankings.

His competition will include fellow Ryder Cup hero Darren Clarke, who showed a heartening return to form with victory in the Asian Open last weekend and former British Open champion John Daly, who has lost his PGA Tour card.

Daly, 42, is playing after having stomach surgery and will be paired with Clarke and home favorite Miguel Angel Jimenez in the opening two rounds.

Clarke's victory last weekend, achieved with a closing 40-foot birdie putt, was his first on the European Tour for five years -- and his first since his wife Heather died of breast cancer in August 2006.

"I just want to keep playing the way I have been," he said. "I think there is a lot of good golf in me yet and, as frustrating a time as it has been, it is nice to see the work paying off." E-mail to a friend