An Open and shut case?

FOR one very special hour the golf world had eyes only for two players at St Andrews last night – one leaving the stage for good and the other threatening to leave the rest for dead.

First to a standing ovation came 65-year-old Jack Nicklaus, unable to extend the greatest career in the sport's history for two more days.

As at the Masters in April, Nicklaus did a good job of holding onto his emotions as his unforgettable journey through the majors 18 wins and 19 runners-up finishes remember built to its final destination. Appropriately, the Home of Golf.

His son Steve, caddying for him, was the first to cry as they posed for pictures on the Swilcan Burn after his father's final drive. No wonder Steve's own son Jake died aged just 17 months earlier this year.

By the time he reached the ball, though, Jack was wiping tears away too. But that did not stop him doing what was even more appropriate a putt through the Valley of Sin and a 12-footer for birdie.

This afternoon though, the world of golf will look on in fascination as Tiger Woods, the greatest golfer of the modern era, and Colin Montgomerie, the best loved player in all of Scotland, will go head to head in the last match of the third round of the Open Championship over the Old Course at St Andrews.

Woods, the red-hot favourite, boasts a four stroke advantage having added a 67 yesterday to Thursday's 66 for a superb 36 hole total of 11 under par 133. Montgomerie shot a moderate enough 71 in the first round but came roaring through the field yesterday with a 66, much to the delight of the huge crowd who cheered him almost as loudly as they did Nicklaus.

It was a supercharged afternoon, full of emotion and great golf, and while Woods looks to be in absolute control of his game and his pursuers, it is still far from a done deal.

Not alone will Montgomerie enjoy massive support the canny Scot will also relish the challenge and the sense of matchplay that appeals hugely to his competitive instinct. And if Monty can't stay with Tiger, then there are several others capable of carrying the battle to him, not least Vijay Singh, with whom he has waged a fierce battle throughout the year for the number one spot in golf.

Without ever putting with the consistency or success demanded of his eminent position in the game, the Fijian has pieced together two rounds of 69 for a six under par aggregate and won't regard the five shot gap between himself and Woods as insurmountable.

Furthermore, there were one or two signs towards the end of his round that Woods can be as vulnerable to error as normal human beings.

Having struck the most majestic iron shot to within four feet of the 17th flag, he pulled the seemingly simple putt left of the cup. A few moments later, he unleashed the most enormous duck hook off the 18th tee which was within five yards of suffering the ignominy of ending out of bounds on the widest fairway in the game of golf! His next finished in the Valley of Sin from where he did well to get down in two putts.

"I still have to go out and put up a quality round tomorrow and the same on Sunday," said a cautious Tiger. "There are some good names up on that board but I still have to take care of my own business. There are a lot of things that can happen. You have to be committed to what you're doing and not worry about what anybody else is doing.

"I am comfortable with any comparison to Jack Nicklaus. To be compared to the greatest player and the greatest champion that's ever lived, it's nice to be in that company. I would love to have gone head to head against him in his prime. I think we could have had a lot of fun."

Thankfully, many will now say, the Nicklaus factor is no more and we can now get on with the business of deciding the winner of the 134th Open Championship. From this morning onward, it becomes the sole focus of players and fans alike and here in Scotland they will be openly rooting for one of their own. Montgomerie agreed that the fanatical support he received yesterday helped towards his score of 66 highlighted by an eagle three at the 5th after a magnificent second shot to fifteen feet. He could well have been destroyed by back to back bogeys at the 12th and 13th but responded superbly with birdies at the 14th and 15th and another at the last.