Woods - a day to forget (Allsport)

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.

Rose recovered from his disappointing Friday 75 with his second 68 of the week.

The Hampshire youngster had to wait to see just how that well that stacked up come the end of the day, but his first wish was granted when he saw the skies darken, felt the temperature drop and, most importantly, heard the wind howling.

It ruined some people's days in one fell swoop. David Toms had an eight on the 443-yard eighth en route to an 81, Steve Stricker the same at the long fifth, Warren Bennett, Lee Janzen and Stephen Ames sevens there and Stewart Cink a triple bogey on the sixth.

Very soon there were an awful lot of people - crowd as well as players and caddies, of course - awfully wet, cold and miserable. Woods and Montgomerie were soon to join them.

Of the leaders Smyth and American Bob Tway were the first to suffer with double bogeys at the first, but Harrington somehow made a 30-foot birdie putt there and went ahead on his own at seven under.

That did not last long as Maruyama, from the right rough, hit a wondrous second to two feet and joined him on seven under.

Up ahead, as the rain turned torrential and with the wind howling, Woods became a victim as well.

Woods, having already bogeyed the first and fourth, became another to run up a seven on the next. Left rough, right rough - accompanied by the first of many angry thrashes in temper - chop out, over the green was the story of that as the Grand Slam was forgotten.

His grimaces provided great pictures for those photographers who had not retreated to a dry place by then - but when more bogeys came on the sixth and eighth to leave him two over they must have wondered if he was worth following any more.

The same applied to those with Montgomerie after bogeys at the fourth, fifth and sixth and double bogey at the eighth, all of which sent him further and further down the leaderboard.

When Maruyama double-bogeyed the second, missing from 18 inches, and bogeyed the third Harrington led by two, but the Dubliner then dropped two shots himself on the short fourth. Right off the tee, he flew the green with his chip, then skinned his next effort 40 feet past the flag.

He and Els were level as a result on five under, while Harrington's playing partner Duffy Waldorf bogeyed the first four holes - and followed that with two double bogeys.

It was an ever-changing position, largely through players dropping shots but at the ninth through someone at last doing something good.

Nick Price eagled it and became a joint leader too, only to bogey the 10th and 13th.

Els was hanging on at that stage at two under and Sergio Garcia's 71 put him in the thick of the action on the same mark.

There looked every prospect of two under leading at the end of the day at that point, but with some of the hardest holes left the last few groups had a massive break with the rain moving away and the wind dropping.

Els seized the chance best of all and now he, rather than Woods for once, has all eyes on him entering the final round.

He is waited for this moment for a long time. Five years have passed since he won his second major, but he may never have a best chance to claim his third and drink from the Claret Jug.