CARNOUSTIE: A charging Tiger Woods was breathing down the necks of the leaders early in his final round of an absorbing British Open at Carnoustie on Sunday.

The 14-times major champion began the day four shots adrift of fellow Americans Jordan Spieth, Xander Schauffele and Kevin Kisner but with a warm westerly breeze playing havoc, the 42-year-old mounted a thrilling early charge.

Birdies at the fourth and sixth hoisted Woods to seven-under and left him just a shot behind Spieth and Schauffele in third place after they both came to grief with bogeys on the fifth.

The predicted winds materialised on cue to add an extra ingredient to what was already looking like a thrilling climax.

Only three of the first 42 players to complete their rounds on Sunday scored in the 60s.

Kisner, who had begun the day on nine-under with Spieth and Schauffele, suffered a dreadful start with a double bogey at the second and a bogey at the third to slip back although he responded with a chip-in birdie at the fifth.

Woods, playing at his first British Open since 2015, rolled back the clocks on Saturday with a sizzling 66 — his best round at an Open since winning at a similarly parched Hoylake in 2006.

He won the last of his 14 majors a decade ago since when he has been written off after a battle with injuries and personal problems.

But in his traditional last-day red shirt he continued where he left off the previous day to turn the screws on those above him.

A deafening roar reverberated around the course when he sunk a long birdie putt on the fourth to move to within three of the lead along with playing partner Francesco Molinari.

Then at the sixth another one dropped.

England’s Eddie Pepperell was the clubhouse leader after a superb round of 67 took him to five-under.

Fellow Englishman Justin Rose failed to make a run on his front nine and dropped a shot at the fifth to slip to three under at the turn.

It was a similar story for several others who had started the final round with high hopes of a surge.

England’s Tommy Fleetwood began the day four shots off the lead and gained a shot on the first but his challenge began to evaporate with a bogey-double bogey-bogey run before the turn.

Four-time major champion Rory McIlroy was another to struggle, dropping two shots in his opening seven holes to drop back to three-under.

Saturday’s third round saw 41 players card under-par rounds but 24 hours later it appeared to be a case of hanging on.

An hour in and Spieth and Schauffele were doing that but only by their fingertips.

Published in Dawn, July 23rd, 2018