Day the sky fell in on Tiger

The Open: Weather-worn Woods sees his Grand Slam dream blown apart as Els breezes in

Tiger Woods makes a career of doing things for the first time but not the way he did yesterday in the third round of the 131st Open Championship. His hopes of a Grand Slam were well and truly slammed.

Woods, the Masters and US Open champion, scored 81 on an afternoon of the sort of horrendous wind and rain Muirfield specialises in. It was the first time the world No 1 had failed to break 80 in his professional career and it matched his worst score in a professional tournament.

From two strokes off the lead overnight, Woods, at six over par, finished 11 strokes behind Ernie Els, who took advantage when the wind dropped in the early evening to make four birdies on the back nine. With a round of 72, of wildly contrasting halves, Els, at five under, led by two strokes from Soren Hansen.

The 28-year-old Dane, who won the Irish Open last month, had a 73 to be one ahead of a pack on two under, which includes Sergio Garcia, Thomas Bjorn, Scott McCarron, Des Smyth, Shigeki Maruyama and most remarkably Justin Rose and Justin Leonard. Garcia played through the worst of the weather for a 71, while the 49-year-old Smyth led on his own at one stage before bogeying the last two holes.

An indicator of the day's dramatic events was that Rose and Leonard, who finished early in the afternoon, were tied for 35th place when the they reached the clubhouse and tied for third when they sat down for dinner. Forty two players began the day under par, 13 ended it in red figures.

Woods was the most surprising player to head backwards in a hurry, but far from the only one. Colin Montgomerie suffered more than most. The Scot's rollercoaster season finally flew off the rails when he took an 84, eight shots worse than his previous highest in The Open and 20 more than his magnificent 64 in the second round. It means an unfortunate footnote in Open history for Monty. He matched the biggest differential in scores in successive rounds of The Open held by R G French, who followed a second round 71 with a 91 at Royal St George's in the 1938 Open.

Woods' previous worst score had been a 79 in the Australian Open in 1996, a few months after he turned professional. As an amateur he had an 81 in the Scottish Open at Carnoustie in 1996 at the age of 20, while he had an 80 as an 18-year-old at Bay Hill.

He hardly hit a fairway on the front nine, which he played in 42 strokes. The dream of the Grand Slam, alive through victories at Augusta and Bethpage and two rounds at Muirfield which saw him lurking two strokes off the lead, was rapidly turning to nightmare. He double bogeyed the fifth and 13th and his one birdie came at the 17th. "I tried on every shot," he said. "I didn't bag it. I hit poor shots on a tough day and that adds up to a big number."

"These conditions were so tough you saw the best player in the world, possibly the best ever, have a very difficult day," McCarron said. "It can make anyone look silly out there."

One of the great bad-weather rounds in the history of The Open came at Muirfield in 1987 when Sandy Lyle miraculously produced a level-par 71 in the middle of a fearful storm on the third morning. Almost as soon as he had finished, the conditions relented and Lyle made up hardly any ground. This the other way round.

The wind got up steadily from late morning ­ not even halting in time for Woods' tee time as is the perceived custom ­ and was gusting at more than 20mph when the leaders set off at 3.30pm. Driving rain hardly helped the comfort level.

Padraig Harrington and Maruyama birdied the first to move to seven under but soon fell back. Once the players turned from the second green to the third tee they were facing the brunt of the north wind. Harrington took a five at the par-five fourth and bogeyed the next three holes on his way to a 76. His playing partner, Duffy Waldorf, bogeyed the first four and double-bogeyed the next two. He was out in 45 but came home in three under.

Els bogeyed four of the first six holes. The South African was out in 40 but steadied the ship and on his way home birdied the 11th, the 13th, the 16th and the 17th with one bogey at the 14th. "I have known slightly worse conditions but nothing as bad at a major," he said. "It was an amazing day. It was like night and day. On the front nine I thought 76 would be a good score. Shigeki and I kept dropping shots and they wouldn't take our names off the leaderboard so I knew no one was having much fun. I could not get my balance while I was putting because of the wind. I have to thank my friend Johann Rupert for hosting the Dunhill Cup every year, experiencing the conditions there helped me here."

Els has a fine record in The Open, with two second places and a third last year. His runners-up finish to Woods at St Andrews in 2000 is just one of several such situations the double US Open champion has had to endure.

He admitted earlier in the week that he thought he might have had five or six major titles by now but for Woods, and to all those who felt he had given up the ghost to the world No 1, he reiterated his desire to win each of the major championships at least once. "The Open is as important as the other majors but with its history and the type of golf we play, it is special.

"It is more comforting that Tiger is not just behind but I still have to play as hard as I can because there are lots of players who want to win as much as I do. Tiger was the further thing from my mind today."

With a calm morning, the early starters, none of whom were more than eight shots behind due to the bunching effect of the first two rounds, began with hopes of moving up but did not dare to think how much. In the end, no one bettered 68, three under par, a score first posted by Steve Elkington and then his countryman in the next group, Peter Lonard.

The next 68s came from Rose and Leonard, who were playing together in the 12th match. No later player broke 70. It was not until 14 pairings later that Garcia joined them at two under. Leonard, the 1997 champion, was fancied among the American media for his ability to keep the ball straight. Coming home in 32 was the basis of his score. "I don't think we have seen the teeth of this course yet but hopefully the fellows will this afternoon now that I'm in," Leonard said. How prescient.

It might have been easy for Rose to fade further following his 75 on Friday but it was a sign of the battler within the young man, as well as a reminder of the talent that he had demonstrated in his opening 68 alongside the world No 1, that he should fight his way back to under par figures. And, as it turned out, right back into a championship that Woods will now have to miss out on.