Montgomerie holds on to lead, Woods closes in

Colin Montgomerie posted a one- under 70 Friday to remain in the lead through 36 holes of the 130th British Open at Royal Lytham & St. Annes. His two-day total of seven-under-par 135 left him one shot ahead of Sweden's Pierre Fulke, who posted a bogey-free round of four-under 67 under unusually benign conditions in northwest England.

Fulke's countryman, Jesper Parnevik, turned in a 68 for a share of third place at five-under 137, with the unheralded duo of Greg Owen and Joe Ogilvie.

Owen was alone in the lead at six-under after a birdie at 17, but missed a four-foot par putt at the last for a 68. The 29-year-old Englishman didn't find one of the 196 bunkers that pockmark the course.

Ogilvie, an American playing in his first British Open, also finished with a 68. He made five birdies over a flawless 13 holes for the top spot at seven- under par, but suffered bogeys at two of the last four holes.

"This course is so difficult on the back side," said Ogilvie, 27. "The bunkers are so well-positioned."

Tiger Woods, who avoided all sand on his way to winning the championship at St. Andrews last year, has found his share of bunkers this week but still managed to make his presence known with a 68 that lifted him to within four of the lead.

"Anyone who is in the red is going to have a good chance come the weekend," he said.

Niclas Fasth, the third Swede hovering around the lead, shot his second straight 69 and joined Argentina's Eduardo Romero (68) and Alex Cejka (69) of Germany at four-under.

Seven of the top eight players in the standings were European Tour players, although Parnevik, a four-time winner on that circuit, now competes full time in the U.S. on the PGA Tour.

Ireland's 48-year-old Des Smyth, who became the oldest winner in European Tour history when he captured the Madeira Island Open in March, fired a 65 to match Montgomerie for low round of the tournament. He finished two rounds alongside 1998 British Open champ Mark O'Meara (69), Northern Ireland's Darren Clarke (69), Brad Faxon (71), Woods and three others at minus-three.

Woods was slow to start with five straight pars, but made a clutch up-and-down from trampled down rough at the par-three fifth. Although he drove into more rough at the par-five sixth, Woods muscled a nine-iron 185 yards to the center of the green and two-putted for his first birdie.

He blasted out of a greenside bunker to set up a 15-foot birdie at the 557- yard seventh, then got out of another trap to within three feet for birdie at the 542-yard 11th to go 3-for-3 on the par-fives Friday. Woods failed to birdie any of the long holes in round one.

"I played the par-fives better today," Woods said. "I felt that was the key to the round."

After missing a handful of long but makeable birdie putts throughout the day, Woods finally made one from downtown at 14. He was way right of the fairway after his drive, but found the green and sank a 35-footer to go to four-under.

Woods dropped his only shot at the 15th after hitting wide of the green and chipping short out of the rough into a bunker. He blasted out to four feet to restrict the damage to a bogey.

Woods, seeking his sixth win in the last eight majors, was just one of a number of players to put the pressure on Montgomerie, who is chasing his first major title at the championship where he's had little luck.

Monty's ball landed in the trees at the third and he was forced to punch out to the fairway. He made a three-footer for bogey, one of two on the day.

He rolled in a 10-foot putt for birdie at the sixth to regain the lead at six- under, then later added birdies at 11 and 13 to move to eight-under. His second bogey came after he drove into a fairway bunker at 15 and wound up missing an eight-footer to save par.

"I'm playing as well as I have when I've won tournaments," said the 38-year- old Scot, who captured his 25th European Tour win earlier this month at the Irish Open. "In fact, I've played an awful lot worse than this and won tournaments.

"I feel quite comfortable at this stage."

Fulke, who pocketed $500,000 after losing to Steve Stricker in the final of the WGC-Match Play Championship at the start of the season, was feeling confident in the afterglow of his second-round performance.

"It feels great," said Fulke, a three-time winner in Europe. "I think [my chances] are pretty good. I'm keeping the ball in play, my swing has improved and I feel pretty good."

Davis Love III, who saved par at 18 after knocking his ball close to the clubhouse, posted 67 to join Vijay Singh and 1994 British Open champ Nick Price at two-under.

Phil Mickelson climbed to three-under with three birdies in the span of six holes Friday, then missed the 14th fairway and needed three more strokes to reach the green. He carded a double-bogey after missing a 3 1/2-foot bogey putt.

The lefthander, still in search of his first major title, bogeyed the 17th to finish with a 72 and heads into the weekend at even-par 142 with Sergio Garcia, Ernie Els, David Duval and U.S. Open champion Retief Goosen.

A total of 70 players survived the 36-hole cut, which fell at two-over-par 144. Among those who won't be around for the weekend were former British Open winners Justin Leonard, Nick Faldo, John Daly, Seve Ballesteros, Bob Charles, Tony Jacklin, Tom Watson, Gary Player and Tom Lehman, the 1996 champ at Royal Lytham.

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