Tiger stakes Open claim

THEY crowded 15 deep against the metal railings down the left side of the 18th fairway, beers put aside and phones pulled out for the moment at hand.

All day long they had heard the cheers rolling across the links of Carnoustie and, finally, he was here.

This was their chance to help bring Tiger Woods home.

“Tigah,” they shouted as Woods hacked out of the rough and then stuck a wedge within a metre on the final hole. “Go on Tigah!”

If it wasn’t exactly Tigermania, it was close.

Even defending champion Jordan Spieth seemed ordinary, in a round where he was doing some extraordinary things. On a British Open leaderboard full of big names, there was only one star.

Saturdays have been the easiest part of the latest Woods comeback. The real test came overnight, when he needed to find a way to come from behind and actually win the Open — something he didn’t do even in his prime. He was four shots behind Spieth and two others, Kevin Kisner and Xander Schauffele, after a sparkling five-under 66.

It was the closest he had been to the lead in a major championship since he was two back at Muirfield in 2013.

At the age of 42, finding a way to win was going to be a tough task.

“It would be, as you said, better on Sunday,” Woods said in response to a question.

“But I’m right there. I’ve got a chance at this, which is great.”

But there was another problem for Woods.

The players of yesterday used to roll over for him. The players of today want to mix it up with him.

“I’ve always wanted to battle it out in a major with Tiger — who hasn’t,” Spieth said. “It’s kind of a dream come true just to have the opportunity.”

Sunday’s weather was expected to play a big role in deciding the winner, with those out early tipped to have the best conditions to go low, while the leaders were likely to be forced to dig deep.

“That’s certainly do-able with hopefully the weather that comes in tomorrow,” Woods said of his chances. WHO WON THE BRITISH OPEN? WWW.THEMERCURY.COM.AU