21st July 2006
Tiger Woods is on target to successfully defend his British Open title after shooting a 7 under par 65 to climb to the top of the leaderboard at the British Open.
Woods followed up his 5 under par opening round of 67 at Royal Liverpool GC with scintillating round overnight that saw the World Number 1 hold a three shot advantage over fellow American Chris DiMarco before Ernie Els followed up with a round of 67 of his own to be just one shot behind Woods heading into the weekend.
Woods didn't have the best of starts at the 135th Open with a Bogey at the first, but he ended his opening day with an Eagle at the 18th that gave him all the confidence and momentum he needed heading into the second round.
Woods made one Eagle and six birdies in his round before Els staked his claim for the Open Championship by firing a bogey free round of 67 that included seven birdies.
Fellow South African Retief Goosen is just three shots back at 8 under after he shot a second round 66.
| Game | Odds |
|---|
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| Date | Tournament | 2004 Winner |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 27-30 | Chrysler Championship | Vijay Singh |
| Nov 3-6 | The Tour Championship presented by Coca-Cola | Retief Goosen |
| Nov 10-13 | Franklin Templeton Shootout | Hank Kuehne/Jeff Sluman |
| Nov 17-20 | WGC World Cup | England |
| Nov 26-27 | Merrill Lynch Skins Game | Fred Couples |
| Rank | Player | Country |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tiger Woods | USA |
| 2 | Vijay Singh | FIJ |
| 3 | Phil Mickelson | USA |
| 4 | Retief Goosen | SAf |
| 5 | Ernie Els | SAF |
| 6 | Sergio Garcia | ESP |
| 7 | Jim Furyk | USA |
| 8 | Adam Scott | AUS |
| 9 | Chris DiMarco | USA |
| 10 | David Toms | USA |
Adam Scott is regarded as the most exciting young Australian golfer since Greg Norman. At the age of 23 years, eight months and 12 days, he became the youngest winner of The Players Championship on the US PGA Tour, an event considered by many to be the game's fifth Major.
Scott is a four-time winner on the US PGA Tour. His initial breakthrough came at the 2003 Deutsche Bank Championship after a second round 62 set up a four stroke win and saw Adam break into the top 20 in the World Rankings for the first time.