I know it's saying a lot, but I might be close with that number.''Els is probably kidding himself. He was asked, before Woods went out to start the second round: "Are you going to church to pray for a hell of a wind this afternoon?'' Els replied: "It would be nice, wouldn't it? A bit of wind, a bit of rain It's pretty nice out there. The South African is at three under par for the tournament and that also represented a huge swing."That's what I needed to do,'' said Els, who made eight birdies, but the brake on a sensational round was applied by three bogeys. Richardson and Els played in a practice round here and it does not seem to have done either of them any harm. "There's been so many tournaments where my knees have been wobbling and my whole body has been going,'' said Richardson, an amateur who yesterday shot 69 in the second round, following a 75 in the first. It leaves him on level par for the championship and he will survive the half-way cut.It is not a dissimilar story with Els, who shot 74 in the first round and 67 in the second.
"I'm not a believer in religion, but I think Ernie is God,'' Matthew Richardson said "He's an unbelievable bloke I was so relaxed His body language and his attitude just rubs off on you. I must have carried that on through these first days.'' Richardson is the 19-year-old former Middlesex boys' champion, playing in his first Open championship; Ernie is Els, the 35-year-old major winner playing in his 14th Open, the championship he won at Muirfield in 2002 and threatened to win on numerous occasions since 1992. On the 16th green a smile crossed Woods's features, and he pursed his lips when a birdie attempt just slid by.At the 17th he failed to convert a birdie opportunity, his first serious miss of the day, lipping the cup from four feet and further trouble came at the last when after a protracted pre-shot routine in which he checked the plane of his swing four or five times, he drove the ball wildly left, ending up a yard short of railings.Woods made par, but in his terms he may as well have dropped two shots in two holes.. He began it with two pars, birdied the ninth in a manner that was almost routine in application, before striking again at the 10th, this time spectacularly.With trouble down the left side, the 10th is 380 yards from tee to green Woods made it one hit, two putts taking him to 10 under Another birdie came at the dangerous par-five 14th. When Woods got a flier with his second shot, sending it skipping through the green, it looked as though he was about to give a shot back, but dropping shots was not on the agenda of a man whose victory at St Andrews in 2000 included, remarkably, not finding one of the course's 112 bunkers. A pitch and a putt must have felt like a shot saved.Going into the loop between holes seven and 11 provided Woods with an opportunity to separate himself further from the field. With the pin set right, Woods blasted the ball to an attacking position.
A two-putt birdie took him two shots clear.Woods's demeanour had barely changed since he had stood impassively on the first tee. At the next hole, however, he drove way left towards the 13th tee, disgust registering on his face. A huge drive was followed by a great approach leaving him with an easy putt for birdie He had the outright lead. He was hitting fairways, and looking flawless on the greens from within 10 feet, one of his game's strong features.After finding the middle of the fourth fairway, unable to see from the tee that his ball had bounded along the rolling terrain, Woods leaked a six-iron well left of the green leaving him a long uphill putt that went left to right before settling in a spot from where par could be scored.It was not scintillating stuff, but the bricks were being put into place as Woods came to the first of the par fives, the 568-yard fifth.
