ST. ANDREWS, Scotland (AP) – Tiger Woods hit the ball so hard that he felt the shaft in his putter flex ever so slightly. Standing 50 paces away on the 18th green, his caddie removed the flag, backed away from the cup, then turned and raised his fist in a rare celebration Saturday at the British Open.

The ball stopped inches away for a birdie that allowed Woods to break par.

Better yet, it gave him a two-shot lead going into the final round, a position that looked to be in doubt during a surprising struggle at windswept St. Andrews.

“I’m very happy to be in the lead,” Woods said. “The conditions got a little bit difficult today. To have the lead all day, and actually end up with the lead, it’s pretty sweet.”

A pivotal par save on the Road Hole, followed by his tap-in birdie on the 18th, gave Woods a 1-under 71 and left him two shots clear of Jose Maria Olazabal.

But on a day when the cheers were for everyone else – Woods even heard some throaty booing while paired with Scottish hero Colin Montgomerie – he brought an elite list of players back into the picture.

Olazabal, a two-time Masters champion, holed a 15-foot birdie on the 18th for a 68.

Two-time U.S. Open champion Retief Goosen went out early before the wind arrived and shot 66, leaving him three shots behind with Montgomerie (70). Another shot back was Sergio Garcia (69) and Brad Faxon (70), the favorite American tourist at St. Andrews after coming over to qualify.

And don’t forget U.S. Open champion Michael Campbell (68) and three-time major winner Vijay Singh (71), both lurking five shots out of the lead if Woods slips on Sunday.

“The game’s on a little bit now,” Goosen said.

Woods failed to turn this into a runaway, as he did five years ago at St. Andrews when he built a six-shot lead going into the last day. For most of the afternoon, he was a model of futility.

Twice, he reached into the prickly gorse to retrieve his ball and take a penalty stroke. He hung his head when a flop shot sailed from one end of the 16th green to the other. He dropped to his knees and flipped his putter like a baton. And the most emotion he showed was for a putt that fell for par.

But he didn’t lose his grip on his bid for a 10th major. Woods was at 12-under 204, and the numbers that mean just as much are his 31-3 record when he has at least a share of the 54-hole lead, including a 9-0 mark in the majors.

“I know, as well as everyone else knows in this field, that Tiger has probably had his hiccup today,” Montgomerie said. “And he got around under par.”

Asked the last time he beat Woods head-to-head in a major, Montgomerie replied with a smirk, “Not many have.”

“I don’t think I have, no,” he said. “If you have 150 players up here, they’ll give you the same answer.”

But not on Saturday.

Goosen was walking down the 16th fairway as Woods teed off on No. 3 and saw that the world’s No. 1 player had already made bogey.

“It’s not easy out there, some holes,” Goosen said. “You can make mistakes quickly.”

The last time Montgomerie played in the final group at a major with Woods seems like a lifetime ago. It was the third round of the 1997 Masters, and Woods put on a clinic with a 65 that sent him to a 12-shot victory and kicked off his remarkable career.

This time, Monty held his own.

“I gained one shot today, and I’ve got to gain another three at least tomorrow,” he said. “I’ve got an opportunity here to win a major, and I can’t afford to leave any putt short.”

Montgomerie surely saw a different player than the 21-year-old at Augusta National.

Woods already had lost one shot when his drive on No. 6 rode the wind so far to the right that caddie Steve Williams retrieved another ball from the bag before the tee shot even landed. Marshals found the ball, although it was buried in the prickly plant and Woods had to take a penalty drop.

Then came the 352-yard ninth, which played downwind. Woods hit 3-wood that was headed toward the flag until it turned enough to the left that it caught another gorse bush. Montgomerie smacked his drive on the green, and he could feel the momentum swinging.

Instead of staring at the tips of his feet, the Scot stood tall and proud. He made birdie to cut another shot off the lead, then dropped his approach into 5 feet on the 10th as the grandstand burst into cheers.

“Nice putt, Monty,” Woods told him, treating the moment like a Saturday afternoon match at the club.

Woods knew this was going to be a grind, however. It showed on his face. He stared anxiously at each approach that raced past the flag as the greens got harder and faster in the wind and late afternoon sun.

He nearly lost the lead over the final three holes.

From behind the 16th green, he tried a flop shot up the slope and knew he hit it too hard when it left his club. The ball landed beyond the hole and dropped into another swale. Woods had to make a 6-footer just to save bogey.

Up ahead, Olazabal birdied the 18th to cut the lead to one shot, and Woods promptly hit 2-iron into grass up to his knees along the left side of the 17th fairway. He did well to leave his approach short of the bunker fronting the green, and ran a putt some 15 feet by the hole.

He slung the ball at his caddie, frustrated at the thought of losing another shot.

“I worked so hard all day to get back to under par,” Woods said. “If I missed that putt, I would go back to over par. I just couldn’t see that happening.”

He delivered a roundhouse fist pump when it dropped for par, and his birdie on the final hole gave him one extra shot between him and Olazabal for a final round that figures to require more work than he wanted.

“It’s a seven-mile walk tomorrow, and he’s obviously the favorite, as he started the tournament,” Montgomerie said. “He copes with the pressure and the situation around him, being Tiger Woods, incredibly well. And if he does win this again, it’s an amazing effort.”

Woods usually steals the stage when Jack Nicklaus ends his career at a major championship, as he did Friday at St. Andrews when he missed the cut. Woods previously won the U.S. Open, Masters and PGA Championship when the Golden Bear played for the final time.

AP-ES-07-16-05 1839EDT