GULLANE (Scotland), July 19: British Open leader Ernie Els lost momentum on the back nine and was caught by Shigeki Maruyama as Tiger Woods lurked two shots back after his steady second round 68 Friday.

Els carded a five-under-par 66 and Japan’s Maruyama a second successive 68, with the pair ending a damp day at Muirfield on six-under totals of 136.

South African Els, who had moved two strokes ahead after completing his front nine in just 29 shots, bogeyed two of the last eight holes to surrender his advantage.

But he saved his par at the last, despite finding a fairway bunker off the tee, to stay one ahead of Sweden’s Carl Pettersson (70), and Denmark’s Soren Hansen and Ireland’s Des Smyth, who both produced rounds of 69.

Woods, bidding for his third major title of the year, fired a steady bogey-free round of 68.

He birdied the 378-yard third after hitting a wedge approach to within four feet of the flag and picked up another shot at the par-five fifth, despite missing the fairway off the tee.

Although occasionally errant off the tee, he then produced nine successive pars before narrowly missing out on birdies at the 15th and 16th holes to stay three under for the tournament.

He saved his par at the last, despite finding a fairway bunker off the tee, to stay one ahead of Sweden’s Carl Pettersson (70), and Denmark’s Soren Hansen and Ireland’s Des Smyth, who both returned rounds of 69.

Woods, bidding for his third major title of the year, birdied the 378-yard third after hitting a wedge approach to within four feet of the flag and picked up another shot at the par-five fifth, despite missing the fairway off the tee.

Although occasionally errant off the tee, he then produced nine successive pars before narrowly missing out on birdies at the 15th, 16th and 18th holes to stay two under for the tournament.

Els, the world number three, had begun the day three shots off the pace but charged to six under when he rolled in a 30-foot putt to birdie the par-four sixth.

The twice U.S. Open champion also secured birdies on the eighth and ninth greens to match eight other players with the second-best nine-hole score in Open history.

Only Englishman Denis Durnian, who took 28 shots to complete his front nine at Royal Birkdale in 1983, has done better.

Earlier, Scotland’s Colin Montgomerie fired a seven-under-par 64 to vault up the leaderboard into a tie for seventh at four-under 138.

The Scot was level with Zimbabwe’s Nick Price and Trinidadian Stephen Ames, who both carded second rounds of 70.

Price, who had birdied three of the first five holes to move two clear of the field, lost momentum around the turn and collected a birdie and two bogeys on the second nine.

Montgomerie, who collected five birdies and an eagle, celebrated his lowest round at a British Open.

The seven-times European number one, who struggled to a 74 on Thursday, reeled off four birdies and an eagle in his first 15 holes and sank a birdie putt from eight feet at the last.

“The eagle at five got things going for me — it was a 35-footer that just broke in,” said the 39-year-old Scot seeking to win his first major championship.

“That’s a good effort — to go from three over to four under on this course, I’m quite happy right now.

“The expectation on me here on Scotland is quite high and, halfway round, I was hoping I would still be here at the weekend.”

Northern Ireland’s Darren Clarke also produced some superb attacking golf on a course softened by steady morning drizzle.

Clarke fired a four-under-par 67, including four birdies, an eagle-three at the fifth and a bogey, to draw level with South Africa’s Retief Goosen, who carded a 68, at three-under 139.

“I made an early birdie to get myself back into things and, overall, I’m quite pleased after a 67 to lie at three-under,” Clarke said.

“Now I need to keep on doing what I’m doing. If I can get my swing a little better, I may give myself a chance over the weekend.”

U.S. PGA champion David Toms, one of the three overnight leaders, dropped off the pace with a second-round 75.

The 35-year-old American double-bogeyed the first hole after finding the left-hand bunker off the tee and then collected four more bogeys, along with two birdies, to crash to even-par 142.

He ended the day level with three-times Open champion Nick Faldo, who shot a 69 on Friday, while world number two Phil Mickelson was a further two strokes back after slumping to a 76.

Collated second second scores:

136-Ernie Els (Rsa) 70 66

137-Soren Hansen (Den) 68 69; Carl Pettersson (Swe) 67 70; Des Smyth 68 69.

138-Colin Montgomerie 74 64; Nick Price (Zim) 68 70; Stephen Ames (Tri) 68 70; Thomas Levet (Fra) 72 66; Mark O’Meara (USA) 69 69.

139-Retief Goosen (Rsa) 71 68; Darren Clarke 72 67; Corey Pavin (USA) 69 70; Lee Janzen (USA) 70 69; Warren Bennett 71 68; Steve Stricker (USA) 69 70; JeffMaggert (USA) 71 68.

140-Andrew Coltart 71 69; Peter O’Malley (Aus) 72 68; Stewart Cink (USA) 71 69

141-Len Mattiace (USA) 68 73; Mikko Ilonen (Fin) 71 70; Bob Estes (USA) 71 70; Stephen Leaney (Aus) 71 70.

142-David Toms (USA) 67 75; Barry Lane 74 68; Nick Faldo 73 69; Craig Perks (Nzl) 72 70; Neal Lancaster (USA) 71 71

143-Anders Hansen (Den) 71 72; Chris Smith (USA) 74 69; Kenichi Kuboya (Jpn) 70 73; Joe Durant (USA) 72 71; Steve Jones (USA) 68 75; Scott Hoch (USA) 74 69; Rocco Mediate (USA) 71 72; Davis Love III (USA) 71 72; Jarrod Moseley (Aus) 70 73; Niclas Fasth (Swe) 70 73.

144-Paul Eales 73 71; Jim Carter (USA) 74 70; Jerry Kelly (USA) 73 71; Jesper Parnevik (Swe) 72 72; Toshimitsu Izawa (Jpn) 76 68; Phil Mickelson (USA) 68 76; Matthew Cort 73 71; Trevor Immelman (Rsa) 72 72; Peter Lonard (Aus) 72 72; Sandy Lyle 68 76; Steve Elkington (Aus) 71 68; Ian Woosnam 72 72; Toru Taniguchi (Jpn) 71 73

145-Michael Campbell (Nzl) 74 71; Matt Kuchar (USA) 75 70; Jose Maria Olazabal (Spa) 73 72; John Bickerton 73 72; Marc Farry (Fra) 70 75; Magnus Persson (Swe) 72 73; Lee Westwood 72 73; Brad Faxon (USA) 70 75

146-Alex Cejka (Ger) 73 73; Taichi Teshima (Jpn) 69 77; Tim Clark (Rsa) 70 76; Tom Lehman (USA) 70 76; KJ Choi (Kor) 73 73; Tom Whitehouse 75 71; Billy Mayfair (USA) 71 75; Tim Petrovic (USA) 73 73; John Senden (Aus) 76 70; Paul McGinley 72 74

147-Luke Donald 73 74; Mathias Gronberg (Swe) 75 72; Robert Allenby (Aus) 73 74; Tsuneyuki Nakajima (Jpn) 75 72; Vijay Singh (Fij) 72 75; Jim Furyk (USA) 71 76; Jose Coceres (Arg) 70 78; Greg Owen 76 72; Andrew Oldcorn 79 69; JohnKemp 74 74; Ian Stanley (Aus) 76 72; Ricardo Gonzalez (Arg) 76 72.—Reuters