Woods facing a challenge
A wind of change came over St Andrews today. And while it was still Tiger Woods leading the Open championship, he was not having things all his own way. Far from it, in fact.
Four clear at halfway, conditions had become far tougher when the world number one resumed on 11 under par.
And it showed when he came up short of the second green and three-putted, then drove into gorse on the sixth and ninth.
He had to take a penalty drop both times, but while the sixth cost him another bogey he escaped from the ninth with a par.
Against all that, though, Woods did reach the green at the long fifth with two majestic hits and two-putted.
And after the setback on the next he made a 22-foot birdie putt at the seventh to return to 11 under.
On the links where he stormed to an unforgettable eight-stroke victory in 2000 - with a major championship record of 19 under – he was only one ahead of Jose Maria Olazabal and two in front of world number five Retief Goosen, back in the hunt thanks to an eight-birdie 66, and Colin Montgomerie.
Olazabal, who was set to watch the event until Seve Ballesteros withdrew, had played with Woods the first two days and finished by holing from the Valley of Sin for a dramatic eagle two.
Today saw another, a 40-footer up the tier in the green at the driveable 348-yard 12th.
Much of the focus, of course, was on how Montgomerie fared paired with Woods after a 66 late on Friday.
Yet to win a major and thrashed by Woods in a head-to-head at the stage of the 1997 Masters – they scored 65 and 74 – the 42-year-old Scot was error-free over the front nine and after making a 10-footer at the fifth he two-putted the ninth.
Some other big names had fallen by the wayside by then. Ernie Els and Phil Mickelson were playing partners, but failed to inspire each other.
Els took 75 to drop back to level par, Mickelson reached seven under, but then was in gorse at the 12th and followed his bogey with a double bogey on the next and a bogey at the 17th for a 72 for three under.
Sergio Garcia and Vijay Singh remained in the chase, however.
Garcia was seven under with Clark, US Open champion Michael Campbell, Trevor Immelman and Scott Verplank, world number two Vijay Singh six under with nine to go.
By the time Woods and Montgomerie teed off at 3.05pm – two-and-a-half hours after Montgomerie had first arrived at the practice putting green – the American’s overnight lead had been cut to three.
The man to do it was Tim Clark, the South African who won the Scottish Open at Loch Lomond last Sunday and whose only previous trip to the Home of Golf had been to visit friends, not play the game.
Clark birdied the first three holes, as did John Daly, then made another at the long fifth.
Goosen then closed the gap to one, the double US Open champion, out in 33, completing a hat-trick of birdies from the 14th just as Woods bogeyed the adjoining second green.
By then Montgomerie had left a 28-foot birdie putt on the first hanging on the lip, but another par at the second brought him and the rest closer as Woods left his birdie attempt seven feet short and lipped out.
It was his first bogey in 22 holes and his first of the week that did not come as the result of finding a bunker.
A month ago, of course, Goosen led the US Open by three with a round to go and a third victory in five years beckoned.
But he then crashed to a closing 81 and ever since he has been dying to show it was just one of those days and not anything more.
The Road Hole 17th stopped his run, though. Just short of the green in two his first putt up the slope ran six feet past and he allowed too much break.
A closing birdie was needed after that setback and driving the last with a three-wood set it up.
