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Woods clings to his lead, but it's down to two

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Tiger Woods takes a penalty drop after hitting into bushes on the ninth hole © Getty Images 2005

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Despite two penalty shots caused by encounters with the spikey gorse bushes that border many fairways on the Old Course, Tiger Woods clung on to his lead in The Open Championship with a round of 71 that set the target at 12 under par. After a close head-to-head tussle throughout the afternoon, Colin Montgomerie was only able to chop one stroke off the four-shot gap that existed between himself and Woods at the start of the day.

The closest challenge now comes from Spanish Ryder Cup player Jose Maria Olazabal. A round of 68 puts him at 10 under par, just two shots behind the Championship leader.

Retief Goosen's 66 pushed him up the leaderboard to nine under in company with Montgomerie. The Scot missed golden opportunities at the 16th, where a birdie pulled up short of the hole with Woods in trouble, and at the 17th where he pulled his second shot into the Road bunker off a perfect drive. Woods was in trouble there as well, but got up and down while Montgomerie dropped a shot.

Both men birdied the 18th hole, driving to the left edge of the green and two putting. Woods did it the easy way by leaving his approach putt less than a foot from the hole. Montgomerie piled the pressure on himself and the watching thousands by leaving his first putt 12 feet short.

Sergio Garcia and Brad Faxon are at eight under and a further shot behind are US Open champion Michael Campbell and Vijay Singh.

It was a disappointing day for the big-hitting pairing of Phil Mickelson and Ernie Els. The American left-hander completed his round in 72, nine shots off the pace, and the South African could not get to grips with his game and finished in 75.

There were special cheers for Sandy Lyle, the champion in 1985, who added a three-under-par 69 to his previous rounds of 74-67 to join the group on six under.

The draw and starting times for the final round will be published on this site as soon as they are available.

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