Spectacular eagle has Tiger on top at British Open

HOYLAKE, England — Tiger Woods couldn't even see the flag, but he knew his 4-iron was close to perfect. Thousands of fans who were crammed elbow-to-elbow on a grassy hillock above the 14th green saw the ball bang into the cup, but they had no idea who hit it.

Seconds later, when Woods emerged from behind a row of bunkers and high-fived his caddie, the mystery was over.

The question Friday was whether the British Open was over, too.

Woods put on a clinic with his long irons, none more spectacular than his eagle from 209 yards on one of the toughest holes at Royal Liverpool. It carried him to a 7-under 65, matching his best score ever in a major, and gave him a one-shot lead over Ernie Els.

"I was just trying to land the ball on the front edge and let it chase on there and get my 4 and go on," Woods said. "It happened to go in."

But when asked whether the tournament was over, Woods tapped the table.

"I'm not here with the (claret) jug," he said. "We've got a long way to go, man."

Even so, his name atop the leaderboard is a daunting sight at Grand Slam events. This is the seventh time Woods has had the 36-hole lead in a major, and he has never lost from out front.

That didn't seem to bother Els. When the Big Easy headed to the first tee, the scoreboard already showed Woods at 12 under par.

Instead of getting spooked, Els was inspired.

"If he's 12 under, there's some birdies to be made out there," Els said. "I had to get my share of them."

Els made birdie on all the par 5s and picked up two more strokes with shots that were every bit as good as Woods', though not quite as dramatic. One was a bump-and-run 7-iron that stopped rolling 2 feet from the cup on No. 3, the other a 4-iron into 15 feet left of the flag on the 14th. He made birdie from just short of the par-5 18th for his 65.

All along, his target was Woods and that posted score of 12-under 132.

"I didn't want to back down," Els said. "I really was trying to get into this final group. I haven't been in this position for a while. I'd love to play as well or even better on the weekend. Maybe I'll have to."

It will be the first time Woods and Els have played in the final group at a major since the last round of the 2000 U.S. Open, although that was hardly a fair fight. Woods had a 10-shot lead and wound up winning by 15.