Hamilton leads into final round

Todd Hamilton threw in a blemish-free 67 to take a one-stroke lead into the final round of the British Open on Sunday.

The 38-year-old from Illinois stood at eight under par (205), just clear of 2002 champion Ernie Els who put himself in a great position with a 68.

A virtual who's who of golf are hot on their heels, though, with U.S. Masters champion Phil Mickelson (68) and U.S Open winner Retief Goosen (68) one further adrift and world number one Tiger Woods lurking within striking distance.

Woods, the 2000 champion, looked in vintage form early in his round with four birdies in his opening seven holes but he failed to add to that tally and a bogey at the 12th in a 68 left him four shots off Hamilton's lead at four under.

On paper, Hamilton has no business heading such a glittering array of talent with a best in the Open of tied 44th at Royal Lytham eight years ago and two missed cuts to his name.

But he proved with his Honda Classic win, his first on the PGA tour in the U.S. in his rookie year, that he can follow through for victory.

Saturday's round of 67 was better than any of the 74-strong field could manage on a day which alternated between driving rain and glittering sunshine and included four birdies and no bogeys.

Hamilton almost quit the sport after failing to break through in his native U.S. but tried his luck on the Japanese Tour and made a comfortable, but by no means sumptuous, living for 10 years before qualifying for the PGA Tour this season.

Despite a nervy final round of 74 in the Honda Classic in March he held on for victory for easily the biggest purse of his life ($900,000).

A Troon triumph would be worth an extra $200,000 on top of that.

"I don't know what I feel. I've played bad for so long it's strange to be commenting about my golf," he told a news conference after Saturday's round.

"Usually my comments on it are just restricted to my wife and kids -- and usually in an angry tone."

He continued: "The thought of winning majors I never even considered. I fixed my game in Japan so that I could get on to the PGA Tour which was my goal. It took a long time but having to struggle to make my dream come true has done me good."

Els, who could take over as world number one on Sunday if he wins and Woods manages no better than 17th, will take some shaking off as he stalks a fourth major title.

He took a while to get into his stride on Saturday and only stood level for the day by the 11th but he finally found his range as the weather worsened in the late afternoon and birdies at the 13th, 15th and 16th left him ideally poised.

Hamilton should have had Thomas Levet as company at the top of the leaderboard but the Frenchman, runner-up two years ago, three-putted the par-four 11th for a double bogey and dropped another stroke five holes later in a level-par 71.

Levet, aiming to be France's first winner since Arnaud Massy in 1907, stands one clear of Briton Barry Lane who similarly dropped two shots on a single hole when sharing the lead.

The 44-year-old, who won May's British Masters, pulled his tee shot to the short 17th and took four more to get down.

His mood was not improved at the last when another approach went left of the mark and a bogey five resulted for a 71 and an overall five-under-par 208.

There were plenty of other tales of woe on an extremely testing day on the often fiendishly difficult seaside links.

World number three Vijay Singh of Fiji saw his hopes disappear with a 76 for one-over overall and Korean KJ Choi slumped to a 74 to return to two under after trailing by two strokes overnight.

Another American, Skip Kendall, who set the second-round pace, slipped to a 75 and lies on three under.

He was joined on that mark by Colin Montgomerie, the former seven-times European number one who is playing on his home course.

Despite a day of desperate scrambling, he finished up with a one-over 72 -- three under overall -- after missing a putt of three feet for par on the last hole for the second day running.

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