BRIEFLY : MONTGOMERIE WINS $1 MILLION.

Byline: Daily News Wire Services

One million dollars for eight hours' work, but it was no gimme for Colin Montgomerie.

Montgomerie blew a huge lead on the back nine before recovering to beat Davis Love III 2-up in Sunday's 36-hole match-play final of the Andersen Consulting World Championship of Golf in Scottsdale, Ariz.

Love, who never led after the 13th hole and was 4-down with four holes to play, halved his deficit with a 10-foot birdie putt on No. 33 and a 25-footer on No. 34.

Montgomerie, the European champion, then three-putted for bogey on No. 35 for a 1-up lead heading into the final hole - the par-5 18th where Love hit the flag stick in Saturday's semifinals to beat Japan's Hajime Meshiai.

This time, Davis pulled his second shot left and was 60 feet from the pin. Montgomerie lofted his 3-iron shot within 10 feet.

The $1 million check matched Montgomerie's biggest payday. He won the 1996 Nedbank Million Dollar Challenge in South Africa.

Love received $500,000.

BASEBALL: Toronto Blue Jays catcher Benito Santiago was injured when he lost control of his Ferrari and slammed into a tree in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Santiago suffered head injuries and multiple cuts, but the injuries did not appear serious. His passenger, 43-year-old Francisco Arroyo, was ejected from the car but escaped serious injury.

Police said they were investigating whether to charge Santiago, who was apparently going at a high rate of speed.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL: Rodrigo de la Fuente, Washington State's leading scorer, will pass up the remainder of his senior season to return to his native Spain to play professional basketball. The 6-foot-6 guard averaged 16.1 points and 34.7 minutes for the Cougars this season.

SWIMMING: Winfried Leopold, the head of Germany's swim team, was stripped of his accreditation at the world championships for admitting he gave steroids to swimmers when he coached East Germany.

SKIING: World Cup slalom champion Thomas Sykora gave Austria another victory by overcoming a deteriorating course and winning for the first time this season in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia.

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