Montgomerie aims for run at Langer starting with SAS Championship

CARY, N.C. -- Bernhard Langer is the prohibitive favorite to win the Charles Schwab Cup. Colin Montgomerie says he's figured out a way to catch him.

Both players are in the field for this week's SAS Championship and Montgomerie figures he needs to win two of the final four Champions Tour events to make up the 633-point deficit.

Montgomerie says he's "got a lot to do to catch Bernhard."

The two will join Nick Faldo in one threesome at Prestonwood Country Club.

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Langer won here in 2012 and claimed the Schwab Cup in 2010. He says his previous victory here helps.

"I was asking my caddie what's the reason I haven't done that well here (consistently) so we just looked at it and tried to find out why," Langer said. "We came to the conclusion that you have to drive the ball very well because if you hit it in the Bermuda rough it's very difficult to control the distance and the spin.

"The course seems a little drier this year, which I think is great. It's going to be a little more challenging, playing a little shorter."

Defending Cup champion Kenny Perry is third in the standings but has fewer than half as many points as Montgomerie does.

"I know I'm too far back to catch Bernhard, but I tell Colin that I'm a blocker for him so maybe I can hold (Langer) off a little bit so (Montgomerie) can have a shot at winning it," said Perry, whose first Champions Tour win was here in 2011. "It's always a huge help (to return to the site of a victory) because you reminisce, you think about shots you hit and you know the course sets up pretty good for you."

Russ Cochran, who is looking for his first victory on the tour this season, won the event both last year and in 2010. Other SAS winners in the field include Tom Pernice Jr. ('09), Mark Wiebe ('07), Irwin ('05) and Craig Stadler ('04).

Also playing is Skip Kendall, who won the 1994 Web.com Tour Carolina Classic on the course.

"I'm not sure there's a real secret other than driving your ball well and maybe getting streaky with those mid and short irons," Cochran said. "I've been lucky enough to win here under a couple of different conditions, but it's going to be a little firmer and faster now. I think it will be a little more of a shootout.

"I haven't played the way I've wanted to this year, so it's more just be patient and get your game back and try to get on that roll."