Woods marks his territory

It was not quite over before it began, but the eagerly anticipated contest between the world's top two players had certainly lost its appeal by the time the television cameras arrived at the sixth hole here yesterday.

The presence of Tiger Woods and Ernie Els in the final three-ball of the third round of the Bay Hill Invitational was more than enough to persuade the local network broadcaster not to switch their coverage to a cable channel, a contingency had they decided to show coverage of the war in the Gulf.

But after Els drive into the lake at the sixth hole his challenge was effectively over. Woods, the triple defending champion here, finished with a 66, in which he did not drop a stroke, to lead at 15 under by five shots from Brad Faxon, who scored 65. Els ended up with a 72 to be 10 strokes back.

"He loves playing with me," sighed Els, who is suffering from an injured wrist. "I'm disappointed. I've got to learn from my mistakes. I wasn't comfortable today but I want to play with Tiger a lot and I feel my game can stand it."

As everyone hoped, Woods and Els ended up playing together after both scored 65s in the second round. Els did so on Friday, while Woods had to complete 11 holes yesterday morning, something he managed with six birdies.

After 36 holes Woods led by three strokes from Stewart Cink. Els was four back but scraped into the final grouping when it was decided to play the third round in threeballs to get the tournament back on schedule.

Overnight Tiger's Swedish girlfriend, Elin Nordegren, remained in hospital having treatment for dehydration after fainting with food poisoning earlier in the day. She was released yesterday morning as Woods resumed by birdieing the 17th and 18th and then added four more birdies in his last six holes.

Woods became the third player to make 100 consecutive cuts on the US Tour after Byron Nelson, who holds the record with 113, and Jack Nicklaus (105). More importantly to Woods, he is determined to become the third player after Walter Hagen and Gene Sarazen to win an event in four consecutive years.

Wrestling the Scottish claymore sword that is the tournament's trophy away from Tiger will be no easy task. Els, a former winner here himself, is yet to finish below second in six strokeplay events this year but his form deserted him just at the wrong moment when the third round started.

The South African did birdie the first from 18 feet but all was not well when he three-putted the third from 13 feet and then failed to make dry land with his drive at the sixth by omore than 40 yards. "That was the shot that really annoyed me," Els said.

Woods hit his tee shot at the short second to four feet and added three birdies in a row from the fourth, including a chip-in from 30 feet at the fifth. At that point he had birdied eight of 12 holes. When Els bogeyed the 10th he fell nine behind and after Woods birdied the two par-fives on the back nine, Els finished by hitting his second at the 18th to two feet. Too little, too late.

"It doesn't surprise me," said Nick Faldo. "Tiger is out there stamping his authority on everybody. Tiger is only thinking of Tiger, but everyone else is thinking of Tiger as well. He is out there to show nothing changes for him. He is in complete control."

Faldo, who played 30 holes yesterday, recovered from a second round in which he had a triple bogey and a double bogey with a 68 to move to four under par. His three-wood from 245 yards to two feet for an eagle at the 16th he described as a "career shot".

Colin Montgomerie avoided missing four successive cuts for the first time in his career with a 70 in the morning, his first round under par this year. Ensuring he played a full tournament for the first time this season hardly left the Scot bubbling with excitement. "There is not much to say," he said before walking off.

Montgomerie returned another 70 in the third round to be one under par but admitted he was still adjusting to his new blade clubs after years of playing cavity backs. "I'm working hard," he said. "I've got nothing else to do. I've had five days off most weeks."