Dave Tindall is our man at Hoylake this week and he'll bring you all the news and colour.

2100: The cut falls at -1 and that's me for the night too!

2050: The cut is set to be -1 although there's still a chance that the even pars might get in. The final few groups out on the course will decide its fate. Whichever way it goes, we're definitely going to be waving goodbye to Vijay Singh, Colin Montgomerie, Padraig Harrington, John Daly, Darren Clarke, Ian Poulter and two of my tips Davis Love and Kenny Perry. As for the others, Jim Furyk is tied ninth on -5 while Mike Weir and Rod Pampling are tied 22nd on -4. Given that Woods and Els are clear, it's a good job I tipped them each-way!

2030: The Tiger Woods press conference earlier today was the usual standard stuff but ended with this rather strange question: "I come from another country and I come from another sport. I come from Italy and I come from tennis, and a few minutes ago Nick Faldo talked about yourself and Bjorn Borg. He said you were able to control your emotions in may situations like Bjorn Borg. What do you know about tennis? And what do you know about Italy, if you can?" That would surely have stumped most golfers but not Tiger. He reveals that he’s a big tennis fan and admires Bjorg for his ability to compete on different surfaces. He’s not quite as impressive on the subject of Italy though. "Lots of garlic," says Tiger.

1830: The leaderboard is pretty much done for the day now. There's no-one out on the course anywhere near the lead so I'm going out for a bit of air before wrapping things up later.

1750: Ernie Els birdies the last and finishes at 11-under - just one behind Tiger. What a final group that will be tomorrow.

1735: A poor afternoon for celebrity spotting although, bizarrely, having supposedly been told the next Aston Villa boss, I walked past the old one, David O'Leary. But where are the 'Holy Trinity' - Tarby, Brucie and Lynchy? My desire to spot famous people has actually led to me hallucinating. At times this afternoon I thought I saw Brucie and someone out of Atomic Kitten. But, when going back for a second look, they looked nothing like them. Mrs T asked me if there were any babies amongst the spectators. Having not seen any, I saw five today and four were crying. Not surprising in this heat. Our young 'un will have to watch it on tele to avoid getting sunstroke like his Dad. Actually, I did spray regularly today and just as well. There was some terribly pink flesh on display. My favourite sound today has been the thud of falling Scousers. No, it's not some strange supernatural phenomenom, it's the sound made when Scallies scale the the high perimeter fence and jump onto the course without paying!

1710: Following Mike Weir wasn't the experience I was hoping for. A poor drive at the first leads to a bogey, he scrambles a par at the second after finding a bunker and fails to birdie the par five fifth. The birdie putt on six slips by and he's still three-under - nine behind Woods. A Canadian man in the crowd says to his friend: "Tiger was 6/1. Noo that was an easy way to make money." Alright mate, don't rub it in! As the sixth offers such a good viewing position - you can also see the fifth green as well as getting a great view of the tee shot on seven - I stay for a while. Ernie Els birdies the fifth and, after a fine tee shot, adds another at the sixth. As ever Mrs Els is following Ernie and sketching a little diagram of each hole and where his ball lands. In fact the WAGs are out in force. I also spot Mrs Donald, Mrs Furyk and Mrs Owen. After eavesdropping, I discover that Jim's wife only got into the UK last night. That's why her husband was seen wandering around the Albert Dock on his lonesome earlier this week. Returning to the golf, I catch up with Weir again on the 10th and his eagle putt lips out. Still a birdie - and one that I missed on the 7th - means he's still in the hunt for the each-way cash. Furyk birdies 9, 10 & 13 to get to -5 so he's still a factor to grab the place money too. But if you want to watch quality golf, big Ernie is the man to follow. I catch his expert bunker shot and 10 footer for birdie at 10 and, on the radio during my epic walk back to the press tent, hear him birdie the 14th. He's now birdied 16 to get to 10-under - just two behind Woods. Having not backed Tiger but punted Els on Betfair, I'm cheering the South African on all the way now. Hopefully he can finish the day just a shot behind.

1700: It seems like an eternity since I set off back to the press tent. A combination of queuing for a wee, trying to negotiate a path across the various spectactor walkways and losing the wireless connection means there's a rather worrying gap between this and the last entry. Thank you for your patience.

1235: It's that familiar depressing feeling that all golf punters know. Tiger is going to win and I've not backed him. I'm currently battling these negative thoughts but it's difficult. I just popped out to see a three-ball coming through the third hole and there seemed a sense of futility. "Go home now, you've got no chance," I almost shouted. And yet it's only just gone midday on the second day of the Open. Surely there must be a sting in the tail... musn't there? Maybe Mike Weir can win the race for second (there I go again being glum). I'll take my radio with me so I can find out when Tiger posts 13-under! If Weir messes up, I'll jump back a couple of holes and watch Jim Furyk and Rod Pampling.

1220: A huge roar in the press tent as Tiger holes his second shot for eagle on 14. He's slashed to odds-on and one journalist says: "We can all go home now!" Woods is now 11-under and two shots clear.

1210: As the barrier between the press tent and the course seems to run for miles, most journos are just jumping it rather than going the long way round. Ken Brown just cleared it in sprightly fashion. Not so sure Peter Alliss would manage it without the help of a step ladder although I've yet to see him venture in here. There's an interesting interview with him in this month's Golf International where big Pete reveals that he and Barry Took once wrote a sitcom. Unfortunately it never got commissioned as the powers that be thought it was too similar to the Penelope Keith/Peter Bowles classic 'To The Manor Born'. Peter had other ideas that were also rejected. Inner City Sumo? Monkey Tennis?

1205: "Woods is running away with it", is the general viewpoint in the press tent. It's an easy conclusion to draw. When Tiger gets in this position in majors he wins them. Is there a twist? Perhaps Retief Goosen can provide it. The South African has gone to -7, just two behind Woods.

1155: In about an hour's time, one of my tips, 100/1 Mike Weir, will be going out for his second round. He sounded very confident in his press conference yesterday so I'm going to follow him for the first nine or 10 holes and see how he gets on. Hopefully, Tiger won't be too many under par by then although Weir is the sort who would plod on and get the place money. A repeat of yesterday's 68 should keep him nicely in the hunt.

1135: Tiger and Chris DiMarco share the lead now on eight-under. That stat about nine of the last 11 Open winners being American springs to the front of my mind again. A few of the international players are lurking though with Adam Scott and Retief Goosen both up to six-under.

1115: If this Aston Villa boss rumour is such good information why did he just drift on Betfair?! I've been taken for a mug I reckon.

1110: A pause from the golf for a second. Obviously this place is full of journalists with good contacts and I've just been given a tip off about the identity of the next Aston Villa manager. He's a pretty decent price on Betfair too although, before everyone e-mails me, these sort of rumours aren't always correct!

1050: And DiMarco goes to -8 and pulls two clear. Good job there's a TV in the press centre as the scoreboard is still showing him at -6. Sort it out Unisys!

1040: And there's a new leader - Chris DiMarco at -7. The American is probably best known for taking Tiger Woods to a play-off in the 2005 US Masters. But it's a surprise to see him there as 2006 has been a nightmare for the New Yorker. Hampered by a rib injury the usually highly consistent DiMarco hasn't posted a top 20 finish in his last 14 strokeplay starts. And he was forced to pull out of the recent Western Open following the death of his mother. His Open record also offers no hint of a good performance. It reads MC-47-66-MC-63-67.

0955: As if to remind us of that previous point, Tiger rolls in a birdie to move back to five-under.

0950: Tiger may have just bogeyed the third to move back to -4 but here's a pretty chilling stat. Yesterday's 67 was the fourth time in 12 Open starts that tiger has posted with a round in the 60s. He has finished no worse than third when doing so with two wins in 2000 (67) and 2005 (66) and a third (65) in 1998 when he was just one shot out of a play-off.

0950: Suddenly, a new name has appeared near the top of the leaderboard. Rory Sabbatini has birdied 11, 12 and 13 to move to five-under and tied for second.

0940: Whilst sat in the canteen hoovering up today's breakfast, I looked out of the window and saw Tiger walk past. Shame that doesn't happen more often.

0915: Time to mull the day ahead over an all-English. Miguel Angel Jimenez is four clear suddenly after an eagle at the fifth.

0910: Tiger just misses his birdie putt at the opening hole so remains two behind leader Miguel Angel Jimenez. The Spaniard is two clear after birdies at the first and fourth.

0845: The press tent runs parallel with the third fairway and thanks to some good timing I pop out and catch the old leader and the new one. The new one is Miguel Angel Jimenez whose birdie at the first takes him to six-under. He plays a lovely shot into the green but can only make par. The flag is just four paces in from the right edge of the green so out of bounds is a real threat for those who take it on. Michael Campbell, after a good drive, plays safe and takes two putts from the middle of the green. Nick Dougherty, the local star, is wearing pink pants. In my mind, if pink is your chosen slack colour you should be giving thumbs up to the crowd, pulling silly faces and generally acting as if you don't have a care in the world. Dougherty is the complete opposite of this. Grumpy as it is after bogeys at the first two holes, his approach is short and he looks even more miffed. He escapes with par though. In the previous group overnight leader Graeme McDowell takes an extremely aggressive line but isn't rewarded as his birdie putt misses. The scoreboard carrier shows the Northern Irishman at -5, indicating his dropped shot at the opening hole. Peter Lonard misses the green to the left and makes bogey to slip to one over while Lucas Glover makes a steady four to stay level par. The third hole, of course, is the subject of a spread bet this week. Some friends bought the "Right-Off-Course" special at around the 150 mark. With 1pt per bogey, 3pts per double and 5pts for triple of worse the make-up on the first day was 54 so it's all to play for. The lack of wind won't help but the pin being stuck near the out of bounds could boost their tally.

0810: How's it looking for the tips?

-4 Jim Furyk (Tee-off 1320) 33/1 now 25s
-4 Mike Weir (Tee-off 1258) 100/1 now 40s
-3 Rod Pampling (Tee-off 1320) 150/1 now 125/1
+1 Kenny Perry (Tee-off 1353) 125/1 now 250/1
+3 Davis Love (Tee-off 0920) 100/1 now 300/1.

0805: The intriguing storyline today is what happens if Tiger shoots a really low one this morning? If he gets to double digits under par and pulls clear of the field, how will his chief rivals react? Almost all the other big names are out this afternoon so will the sight of Tiger sitting on top of the leaderboard inspire them or freak them out?! Tiger begins his round today at 0858.

0745: As is standard practice, I'll follow the news with a weather forecast. And let's make it a detailed one:

0600-1000 Dry and partly cloudy. Light south-westerly wind 5mph
1000-1400 Sunshine and clouds. Dry. Wind becoming north-westerly 10 to 15mph.
1400-1800 Warm and partly cloudy. Very small risk of a shower. Wind north-westerly 10 to 15mph.
1800-dusk Still a small shower risk though would expect a fine dry end to the day. Wind easing to a light 5 to 10mph north-westerly by dusk.
Outlook for the rest of the tournament: Mostly fine and dry tomorrow, but there is a risk of the odd shower cropping up through the afternoon. Again risk of an isolated shower on Sunday, but otherwise dry with some warm sunshine at times.

So no real advantage today it seems unless there is a course-softening shower in the afternoon which will help the later starters.

0745: Good morning. It's another hot day here at Hoylake with just the gentlest of winds so far. So how are the early starters faring? Not too good actually. I've just checked the Unisys computer and the first 18 players on the course today are a collective 11 over par. That's not such a surprise though as the first three holes were ranked the eighth, fourth and fifth most difficult respectively in round one. The best round so far is being played by Thaworn Wiratchant, who is two under for the day and three under overall. Yorkshire's Simon Dyson is also one under for the day after three.