els hot on tiger's tail

By Mark Garrod, PA Sport Golf Correspondent

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Tiger Woods threw down the gauntlet in the Open Championship at Hoylake and then saw one of his biggest rivals pick up the challenge.

A sparkling second-round 65, highlighted by his dramatic holing of a 212-yard four-iron for an eagle two at the 14th, took Woods halfway towards the first successful defence of the title since Tom Watson in 1983.

He is also on course to break the 19-under-par major record he established himself at St Andrews in 2000.

But so is 2002 champion Ernie Els after he matched Woods' round later in the day and moved onto 11 under, only one behind.

The pair are all set for a showdown in the sun, while Chris DiMarco is three back in third place after also scoring a course-record 65 just three weeks after the death of his mother.

It was a poor day for several of Europe's big hopes - with Colin Montgomerie, Padraig Harrington, Darren Clarke and Paul McGinley all missing the cut.

In the week he celebrates 400 weeks as the world number one, Woods banished the memory of missing the cut at the US Open a month ago - his first appearance since he lost his father.

It left playing partner Nick Faldo suitably impressed and full of praise.

Faldo said: "If he keeps cruising I predict he gets to 20 under.

"He is the best competitor, mentally the toughest and the most trained for what he has to put up with. He plays with the 'Tiger Show' for 72 holes."

Faldo, who also described the so-called feud between the two as "a complete mountain out of a molehill as usual", compared Woods to tennis great Bjorn Borg.

When told of that, Woods commented: "I'm an avid tennis fan, and Bjorn Borg is one of the greatest ever to play the sport - so I guess any comparison is awfully flattering."

It was Faldo's television criticism of a Woods swing early last year that added spice to them being paired together for the first two round.

As a three-time major winner, Els has proved himself too - but it has been a long time since he showed Friday's form and that was the main reason for his delight afterwards.

Out of action for four months after a sailing accident necessitated knee surgery last summer, the South African had become frustrated with how long it has taken him to get back.

"I'm totally over it," he said.

"I'm not sub-consciously thinking about it any more and I felt comfortable with my swing out there.

"When the opportunities presented themselves I tried to be aggressive. But I've obviously got to keep it up playing with the number one player in the world.

"It should be a lot of fun and I'm excited."

Having finished his opening round only one behind Graeme McDowell overnight, Woods three-putted the third and at that point was five adrift of new leader Miguel Angel Jimenez.

But as the Spaniard, four clear of the entire field at that point, dropped back to finish the day seven under, Woods went into overdrive.

He had already grabbed five birdies by the time he came up with his shot of the day on the 456-yard 14th.

"I was trying to land the ball on the front edge and let it chase on," he said.

"I really hit it flush and held it nicely in the wind. It happened to go in."

The major record of 63 was still a possibility, but he had to be content with playing two par fives in birdie-par.

McDowell had already completed his day's work by then and had fallen back into the chasing pack on five under by adding only a 73 to his initial 66. The Northern Irishman closed with a bogey six.

Woods has never lost a major when leading after either 36 or 54 holes, but Els has beaten him in the past and at last year's Masters DiMarco took him into a play-off.

Fourth-placed Retief Goosen has won two US Opens with Woods in the field too. Woods is the obvious favourite, but this is not over yet.

Phil Mickelson finished the day on four under, but his playing partner Darren Clarke cut a sorry sight, slumping from three under to seven over in what he expects to be his last round for the "foreseeable future" because of his wife Heather's struggles with cancer.

Clarke's 82 was the first time he had failed to break 80 in an Open career going back 15 years.

Montgomerie managed only a 75 to finish four over, and Harrington was five over following his 74.

There was a long list of Ryder Cup hopefuls who failed to make it through - and that was good news for DiMarco as he bids to retain his place and probably partner Mickelson in the US team at the K Club near Dublin in September.

Clarke, judging by what he said after the first round, looks unlikely to be there - and as Montgomerie commented a week ago: "A European team without Darren Clarke is a weaker team."

Greg Owen was eight under with seven to go and joint fourth, but then came two bogeys and a closing double-bogey seven. He did what McDowell nearly did and drove out of bounds.

With Londoner Anthony Wall also taking 73 - he finished with a six - the unlikely figure of Robert Rock - world number 503 and playing only because he survived a seven-hole play-off - was left as the leading British player.

Two 69s put him six under and alone in eighth place. The only Europeans ahead of them were Jimenez and Finn Mikko Ilonen on seven under, alongside Australian Adam Scott.

The cut fell at one under - bad news for McGinley and Phillip Price who finished on level par.

Collated second round scores and totals in the 135th Open, Liverpool, England (Gbr & Irl unless stated, par 72 (x) denotes amateurs):

132 Tiger Woods (USA) 67 65

133 Ernie Els (Rsa) 68 65

135 Chris DiMarco (USA) 70 65

136 Retief Goosen (Rsa) 70 66

137 Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa) 67 70, Adam Scott (Aus) 68 69, Mikko Ilonen (Fin) 68 69

138 Robert Rock 69 69

139 Thaworn Wiratchant (Tha) 71 68, Rory Sabbatini (Rsa) 69 70, Graeme McDowell 66 73, Ben Crane (USA) 68 71, Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (Spa) 70 69, Brett Rumford (Aus) 68 71, Jerry Kelly (USA) 72 67, Marcus Fraser (Aus) 68 71, Angel Cabrera (Arg) 71 68, Mark Calcavecchia (USA) 71 68, Sergio Garcia (Spa) 68 71, Jim Furyk (USA) 68 71, Robert Allenby (Aus) 69 70

140 Charl Schwartzel (Rsa) 74 66, Brandt Jobe (USA) 69 71, Peter Lonard (Aus) 71 69, Geoff Ogilvy (Aus) 71 69, Carl Pettersson (Swe) 68 72, Keiichiro Fukabori (Jpn) 67 73, David Duval (USA) 70 70, Hideto Tanihara (Jpn) 72 68, Mark Hensby (Aus) 68 72, Mike Weir (Can) 68 72, Rod Pampling (Aus) 69 71, Greg Owen 67 73, Phil Mickelson (USA) 69 71, Anthony Wall 67 73, Andres Romero (Arg) 70 70

141 Mark O'Meara (USA) 71 70, Robert Karlsson (Swe) 70 71, Michael Campell (Nzl) 70 71, Jose Maria Olazabal (Spa) 73 68, Stephen Ames (Can) 70 71, Andrew Buckle (Aus) 72 69, Tim Clark (Rsa) 72 69, Marco Ruiz (Par) 71 70, SK Ho (Kor) 68 73, Lee Westwood 69 72, Lee Slattery 69 72

142 (x) Marius Thorp (Nor) 71 71, John Bickerton 72 70, Tom Watson (USA) 72 70, Simon Khan 70 72, Paul Casey 72 70, Luke Donald 74 68, Paul Brodhurst 71 71, Sean O'Hair (USA) 69 73, Soren Kjeldsen (Den) 71 71

143 Fred Funk (USA) 69 74, Simon Dyson 74 69, Chad Campbell (USA) 70 73, Henrik Stenson (Swe) 72 71, Thomas Bjorn (Den) 72 71, Simon Wakefield 72 71, Jeff Sluman (USA) 71 72, Hunter Mahan (USA) 73 70, John Senden (Aus) 70 73, Scott Verplank (USA) 70 73, (x) Edoardo Molinari (Ita) 73 70, Todd Hamilton (USA) 72 71, Bart Bryant (USA) 69 74, (x) Vaughn Taylor (USA) 72 71, Andrew Marshall 72 71

The following players failed to make the cut:

144 Rich Beem (USA) 71 73, Scott Drummond 73 71, Jeff Maggert (USA) 75 69, Jarrod Lyle (Aus) 74 70, Mathew Goggin (Aus) 75 69, Paul McGinley 71 73, Markus Brier (Aut) 71 73, Bradley Dredge 70 74, Niclas Fasth (Swe) 69 75, Phillip Price 74 70, Tom Pernice (USA) 71 73, Mark Pilkington 76 68

145 Ted Purdy (USA) 74 71, Lucas Glover (USA) 72 73, Steve Elkington (Aus) 71 74, John Daly (USA) 72 73, Nick O'Hern (Aus) 70 75, Tom Lehman (USA) 68 77, Shiv Kapur (Ind) 72 73

146 Sandy Lyle 73 73, JJ Henry (USA) 73 73, Richard Green (Aus) 71 75, Aaron Baddeley (Aus) 70 76, Brett Wetterich (USA) 74 72, Bo Van Pelt (USA) 74 72, David Smail (Nzl) 76 70, Ben Curtis (USA) 73 73, KJ Choi (Kor) 72 74, Fred Couples (USA) 70 76, Vijay Singh (Fij) 70 76, Zach Johnson (USA) 73 73, Stephen Dodd 73 73, Stuart Appleby (Aus) 74 72, Thomas Aiken (Rsa) 72 74

147 Nick Dougherty 74 73, (x) Julien Guerrier (Fra) 72 75, Davis Love III (USA) 75 72, Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa) 78 69, Bradley Hughes (Aus) 72 75, Darren Parris 75 72, Billy Andrade (USA) 72 75, Kenny Perry (USA) 73 74, Shaun Micheel (USA) 72 75, Michael Wright (Aus) 72 75, Adam Bland (Aus) 73 74

148 Shingo Katayama (Jpn) 74 74, Nick Faldo 77 71, Ross Wellington (Rsa) 75 73, Bernhard Langer (Ger) 74 74, Colin Montgomerie 73 75, Arron Oberholser (USA) 73 75

149 Stewart Cink (USA) 72 77, Johan Edfors (Swe) 75 74, Richard Sterne (Rsa) 76 73, Tim Herron (USA) 76 73, Padraig Harrington 75 74, Toshinori Muto (Jpn) 75 74, JB Holmes (USA) 74 75, Jim Payne 73 76

150 Peter Hedblom (Swe) 73 77, Barry Lane 75 75, David Howell 74 76, Paul Lawrie 76 74, Brett Quigley (USA) 79 71

151 Jamie Donaldson 75 76, Darren Clarke 69 82, Yasuharu Imano (Jpn) 73 78, Ian Poulter 75 76, Severiano Ballesteros (Spa) 74 77, Nick Ludwell 75 76

152 Bruce Vaughan (USA) 75 77, Tatsuhiko Ichihara (Jpn) 78 74, Warren Bladon 76 76, Adam Frayne 71 81

153 Warren Abery (Rsa) 76 77

154 Danny Denison 78 76, Gary Lockerbie 78 76

155 Wayne Perske (Aus) 76 79

156 Unho Park (Aus) 82 74

157 Carlos Rodiles (Spa) 81 76, Sam Little 83 74, Ben Bunny (Aus) 74 83

158 Gary Day 82 76

163 Jon Bevan 82 81

Withdrawn: Kenneth Ferrie