Colin Montgomerie and Ian Poulter have fallen out in the past and it did not take a lot of reading between the lines during the second round of the European Open at The London Club yesterday to think that the Ryder Cup colleagues might have been about to do so again.

With Poulter preparing to putt at the par-four 13th, Montgomerie remonstrated with a television cameraman who had been in his eyeline and had not immediately moved when asked. “You're only here because of me,” Montgomerie was heard to say.

After backing away from his putt, Poulter holed out for a par, tossed his putter towards his bag in disgust and made a chatting sign with a hand as Montgomerie strode towards the next green. Afterwards, the Englishman, dressed from top to toe in pink, played coy but gave a knowing smile when asked if his sign had been directed towards a cameraman. “No,” he said. Another player then? “Maybe.” He gave little away but had the look of stone-cold fury.

Montgomerie decided just to have a little fun at Poulter's expense. “When you play with a fellow who wears pink, there is bound to be a bit of chatter,” he said. So, there was nothing untoward? “No, nothing,” he said.

At the Seve Trophy at the Wynyard in 2005, the two had a very public falling-out on the practice ground after a poor first day's play. Montgomerie, the playing captain, had been critical of Poulter and had received a choice answer in reply. “We all sat down and did our 150 lines like little schoolboys and took our medicine,” Poulter said the next day.

In the event, both had rounds of 67 yesterday for seven-under-par totals of 137, six strokes off the lead of Ross Fisher - who followed up a first round of 63 around the Kent course with one of 68. Graeme McDowell (67) lies second on 132, while Sergio García had the best round of the day, a 64, and goes into the third round on nine under par and well placed to kick on. García was in no mood for hanging about and was soon hot-footing it to London SW19, where Rafael Nadal, his friend and countryman, was victorious in his Wimbledon semi-final. The two have been exchanging congratulatory text messages and García said: “I'm sure he'll be happy about my round today.” The world No8 had a hit with Nadal in Majorca last year and described the experience as awesome. “He was quite impressed with my tennis - and I was very impressed with his golf,” he said.

It has been a good couple of months for Spanish sport. After García won the Players' Championship - dubbed by some the “fifth major” - at Sawgrass, in Florida, Nadal claimed his fourth successive French Open title, Spain's football team won Euro 2008 and, last week, Pablo Larrazabal won golf's French Open in Paris.

But while García is keen to win here this week, one eye is turned towards Royal Birkdale and the Open Championship that gets under way in less than a fortnight. He says that it took him only two days to get over his defeat in a play-off with Padraig Harrington at Carnoustie last year, but you sense that he is still smarting.

He will not play in the Scottish Open at Loch Lomond next week, practising the “long, knock-down” shots at home in Spain before heading to Birkdale on the Monday of the championship. To some extent, The London Club has the feel of a links course and García is taking advantage of the ball running a long way.

“We're hitting some tee-shots with a four-iron or five-wood that are going 280 [yards],” he said. “You get a lot of run and you've got to work the ball to make sure you hold the fairways. It's a better warm-up to the Open than Loch Lomond might be.”