By Phil Casey, PA Sport

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Tiger Woods signed for the highest score of his professional career today as Muirfield turned nasty and claimed the scalp of golf's most famous player.

On an amazing day of wind and rain that threatened to turn the tournament upside down - and nearly did - Woods slumped to a 10-over-par 81 and still out-scored Colin Montgomerie by three.

In the six years since he left the amateur ranks Woods has never done worse than his 79 at the 1996 Australian Open.

But in a performance that, barring a miracle in the final round, ended his Grand Slam dream, Woods hit a new low both in terms of score and disappointment.

A round which began with him four under and only two off the lead ended with him six over and 11 adrift of South African Ernie Els.

Twice the winner of the US Open, Els now has the British version in his sights - and that despite going to the turn in 40 himself.

An inward 32 for a five-under total of 208 takes the world number three into the concluding 18 holes two ahead of Denmark's Soren Hansen and three clear of a seven-strong group which, almost unbelievably, contains Justin Rose.

The 21-year-old was 50th at the halfway stage, but like playing partner Justin Leonard took advantage of the relative calm of the morning to return a 68 that gives him the opportunity to be the youngest winner of the Claret Jug for 109 years.

The championship could still see the oldest-ever major champion as well in Irishman Des Smyth, but the 49-year-old was desperately disappointed to bogey the last two holes after he had shared the lead with Els.

Also on two under are Sergio Garcia - himself only 22 - American Scott McCarron, Japan's Shigeki Maruyama and another Dane, Ryder Cup player Thomas Bjorn.

As for Montgomerie, he went from the sublime to the ridiculous in 24 hours.

Having set a new record for the lengthened links with his second-round 64 - his best-ever in an Open and a round that lifted him from 106th to ninth - he crashed back to 79th with a round that was, by eight, his worst-ever in the championship.

Woods, if not exactly happy to stop and talk afterwards, at least did so. Montgomerie, his own dream of a first-ever major crushed again, chose not to.

Only one other player in Open history has ever had the same 20-stroke variation in two successive rounds - the obscure RG French at Sandwich in 1938 - and Montgomerie must be wondering what on earth will come next.

Woods slumped to an horrendous 42 for the front nine - only three of the other 82 players did worse - and when he had three more bogeys and a double bogey at the start of the inward half the damage seemed irreparable and the limit of his ambitions was trying to avoid the big 8-0. He failed.

While others were suffering horribly as well, it had to hurt Woods more than anybody.

He was a virtual spectator as the battle for the title - a battle for survival now - continued elsewhere.

Nine different players tasted the lead before Els stamped his class on proceedings when conditions finally returned to something near normality.

Padraig Harrington was one of the five halfway leaders, but even with a birdie at the first - rare indeed - the Dubliner could do no better than 41 going out either and finished with a 76. At one under he is not yet out of it.