Monty - held on to lead in dramatic day.

Two rounds down, two to go. Colin Montgomerie is now halfway towards becoming Open champion - and doing something only one man has done since 1934.

Having to wait until 2.20pm to tee off again at Royal Lytham was probably not something he would have chosen after taking a three-stroke lead with his opening 65.

But even if the magic of the first day was not there, the 38-year-old Scot went out, dug in, added a 70 and will go into Saturday a shot ahead of back-to-form Swede Pierre Fulke.

Once again he thanked the crowd. "I've never had this support anywhere I've played in the world," he said.

"It's been unbelievable. Sometimes it can be a real hindrance, but on this occasion I'm using it to my advantage and I was really quite emotional coming down the last.

"All credit to them for cheering so loudly and let's hope they come out in their thousands over the weekend.

"I have an opportunity to win my first major and hopefully I will be able to take it."

The hardest way to win an Open - any major, any tournament come to that - is from the front.

Tom Weiskopf is the only player to have held the outright lead after every round of the championship since Henry Cotton achieved the feat 67 years ago.

But Montgomerie can take comfort from the fact that he did it for the first time in his life three weeks ago at the Irish Open.

But there is a world of difference between that and this.

For one thing, Tiger Woods is playing - and none of the 31 tournaments Montgomerie has won in his career have come with the American in the field.

And Woods, the defending champion, is not deep in the field, but poised to mount a challenge after a 68 that moved him to three under, only four behind.

He is only one of plenty for Montgomerie to shake off, though.

Fulke has hardly done a thing in the last six months and on Wednesday spoke of personal problems.

But a 67 means he goes out last with Montgomerie and he said: "I think my game will hold up.

"It's not that long since I won the Volvo Masters (last November) and it's the same feeling.

"I know I can beat these guys out here. The confidence got a boost yesterday and an even bigger boost today.

"If I am in there on Sunday I am not going to give in.

"It's been a pretty bad five months. It's down to a lot of things, but it's nice to be back.

"I said don't worry about the Ryder Cup. I will be ready for September because the last three weeks I felt it was on the way and to break through at the Open is a tremendous bonus."

Compatriot Jesper Parnevik, twice a runner-up, is on five under along with Mansfield's Greg Owen and American Joe Ogilvie - both of whom admit they never expected to be in this position.

While Montgomerie played - and especially putted - beautifully for his 65, his next tour of the links had many more moments of drama. And the sort of lucky bounces that every eventual winner needs.

At the 458-yard third he chose an iron off the tee, but pushed into the trees close to the railway line just like playing partner Stuart Appleby.

While the Australian had to return to the tee and finished up taking seven, however, Montgomerie was able to hack out and dropped only one shot.

He had been overtaken by Owen at that point, but the Englishman three-putted the last and the seven-time European number one came back with a birdie at the long sixth to regain top spot.

The first slice of fortune was on the 557-yard next. His second shot flew into the crowd on the hill by the green, but instead of nestling in the rough there and leaving him a potentially horrible next shot the ball rolled down a path into the clear.

He did not birdie, but if he was looking for omens it was a good one and on the 11th - another par five - there was another.

This time his second shot was heading into sand, but caught the face of it in such a way that it bounced forward.

This time he did birdie, chipping to a foot, and when he added another at the 13th he was three clear again.

That became two again Fulke birdied the 11th himself and one when Montgomerie couldn't avoid a bunker on the 15th.

But the Swede had the tough closing stretch still to come of course, and there was no need for any panic from the big Scot.

He didn't and even if there was the disappointment of missing a birdie chance from under six feet on the last he could view it as a successful day's work in the circumstances. He began as the leader and he ended it as the leader.

Woods could not accuse Montgomerie of having all the luck.

After going to the turn in 33 and getting up and down from a greenside trap on the 11th, he hit a really wild drive right on the 445-yard 14th.

The fortune was that he was so wild he avoided the hay and finished on grass trampled down by the fans.

And from there he birdied thanks to a 25-foot putt.

"It was like a car park birdie. Seve did it at the 16th and I did it there," said Woods afterwards, referring back to the unconventional route Ballesteros took into a TV compound wide of the 16th en-route to winning in 1979.

"I had a couple of loose drives and had some great breaks, but I controlled the ball a lot better than I did in the first round. I felt a lot more comfortable."

Bogeying the next and also parring the final three leaves Woods still playing catch-up, but if anyone can he can.

Parnevik, Owen and Ogilvie all shot 68 to finish the day a stroke ahead of German Alex Cejka, Argentina's Eduardo Romero and yet another Swede, Niclas Fasth - like Ogilvie making his Open debut.

Darren Clarke got to five under with four to play, but bogeyed the next two, while fellow Irishman Paul McGinley, who was the joint halfway leader at Lytham five years ago, stood four under at the same point, only to have three successive bogeys.

With Montgomerie and Fulke home most the crowd left. But they missed a brilliant performance by Somerset amateur David Dixon. Winner of the Lytham Trophy last year, he went to the turn in 34 in the second last group of the day, then birdied the 11th and 13th to stand joint sixth.