Woods, Els shootout looms while Scott well placed

British Open 2006 - Round Two

Tiger Woods and Ernie Els look headed for a showdown of epic proportions after both shot imposing 65s in the second round to set the pace in the British Open at Hoylake, overnight.

Woods stunned his competition by posting an early morning two-round total of 12-under-par 132, three ahead of his nearest rivals in the clubhouse. He appeared certain to take a comfortable lead into the third day, but Els matched his performance in the afternoon with a 65 of his own, to sit just one shot behind the world number one.

Their nearest challengers are American Chris Di Marco, who also shot seven-under-par on Friday for a nine-under-par 135 total and Els’ South African counterpart, Retief Goosen on eight-under.

Queenslander Adam Scott is well-positioned in a tie for fifth position, a further stroke back at seven-under following a solid second round 69, and he’s the best-placed Australian, two shots ahead of Robert Allenby, Brett Rumford and Marcus Fraser, all at five-under-par.

Overall, ten Aussies survived the cut, which was set at one-under, including notables such as US Open champion Geoff Ogilvy, Peter Lonard, Mark Hensby and Rod Pampling at four-under, eight strokes behind Woods.

However, the big story of this Open Championship looks set to be the impending clash between heavyweights Woods and Els, as they reprise their long-running duel at golf’s majors.

Woods set Royal Liverpool alight during his morning round, taking advantage of favourable conditions to rediscover the form which made him a near unstoppable force during his golden year of 2000. Starting his day at five-under, Woods dropped an early shot but bounced back immediately with back-to-back birdies as his game suddenly clicked into gear.

He followed a long birdie putt at the eighth by picking up further strokes at the 10th and 11th holes, before he vowed the crowd by rolling in his four-iron second shot at the par-four 14th for an amazing eagle.

Another birdie on the 16th completed his display and extended his lead to three shots, but he was to be reeled in by Els later in the afternoon. Rather than be demoralized by the American’s display, the South African seemed inspired and three birdies on the opening nine set the tone.

On the comeback trail from knee injury, he added another birdie to his card at the 14th before cleaning up the par-fives on the back nine to post a bogey-free seven-under round that has him in a blockbuster final pairing with Woods on Saturday.

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