81!

They tried playing Saturday at Muirfield, but as they trudged up sodden fairways, holding on for dear life, the world’s best golfers looked more like deckhands on a fishing trawler stranded in the middle of the Perfect Storm.

After a mild morning, bitter cold, piercing winds and sideways rain attacked the east coast of Scotland, washing away Tiger Woods’ bid for a Grand Slam while blowing hopes of many other contenders into the Firth of Forth.

Woods, the best golfer in the world and a player who builds his career around major championships, teed off in the heart of the storm and shot a 10-over-par 81, by two shots his worst as a professional.

Woods is at six-over-par 219, 11 shots behind leader Ernie Els, who managed to withstand the afternoon weather and played part of his back nine after the storm had abated. Els stands at five-under 208, one of only 13 golfers under par after three days.

His round of 72 was one of the best of any of the 30 golfers who started after 1 p.m.

Nine of those 30 failed to break 80; none broke par.

“It was really tough out there,” Woods said. “I don’t know if there was any sleet in that rain, but it sure hurt.”

Is his bid for the Grand Slam over?

“There are too many guys between me and the lead,” said Woods, who is tied for 67th place.

Woods didn’t get a birdie until the 17th hole and managed consecutive pars only twice.

“It was just blowing so hard out there that it was difficult to stand, and the ball is oscillating, the rain is blowing.... I just hit poor shots, and when you add that with the conditions, you are not going to end up with a good result,” he said.

Els, a two-time U.S. Open champion, holds a two-stroke lead over Soren Hansen of Denmark, who shot a 73 despite playing about the same time as Els.

“Those were some of the toughest conditions I’ve ever seen in an Open Championship,” Els said.

“I was standing there on the fourth tee and we had a half-hour wait there, and you couldn’t believe how the conditions were. At that moment, I really thought we were in trouble.

“I thought, at best, to break 76 or 77 today would have been a hell of a score.”

Seven golfers are tied for third at two-under 211: Second-round co-leader Shigeki Maruyama of Japan shot 75; Des Smyth, the 49-year-old Irishman, shot a 74; Thomas Bjorn of Denmark had a 73; Scott McCarron a 72; Sergio Garcia of Spain had a 71, the only even-par round of the late starters; and Justin Rose and Justin Leonard, who played together before the weather turned, shot 68s.

The Brits have a term for the kind of mild weather that marked the first two days of the 131st British Open: benign. It turned malignant about 2 p.m. Saturday, and it turned with a vengeance.

How bad was it?

Colin Montgomerie, who had played his way back into the tournament in the second round with a 64, shot an 84 Saturday. The 20-stroke swing matches the British Open record set in 1938 by R.G. French, who went from a second-round 71 to a 91.

Second-round co-leader Duffy Waldorf had an equally improbable swing in his round. Waldorf played the first 10 holes in 10 over par, then birdied five of the next six and finished with a 77. He’s at even-par 213.

There were only four rounds in the 60s Saturday, only nine under par.

Garcia turned in one of the day’s most impressive scores, coming in with the 71.

“I feel like I shot at least five or six under par,” said Garcia, who added that he would check out the final groups playing behind him on television. “First of all, I’m going to take a hot bath, and then I’m going to just lay down and watch a little bit.”

McCarron went out on the course prepared.

“I had like four different jackets in the bag, and my caddie thought we were going to have to take a trolley just to carry my extra clothing,” he said. “I think I went through all of it by about the fourth hole.”

Smyth, who has played the PGA European Tour since 1974 and is only a year away from the senior tour, was in the lead late Saturday until going bogey-bogey on 17 and 18.

“The weather was as bad as I can ever remember,” he said. “It’s unbelievable it should happen in July; it was more like a December/January day.”

It was still July when Rose and Leonard teed off in the morning. They finished just in time with the lowest score of any pairing.

Tied for 50th after two rounds, Leonard and Rose were the 12th of 42 twosomes to tee off and could only hope the weather turned after they finished. They had no idea at the time how well their scores would stand up.

“I don’t think we’ve seen the teeth of the course yet this week,” said Leonard, who won the 1997 Open at Troon, “but hopefully, the fellows will this afternoon now that I’m in.”

Rose and Leonard, practically out of the tournament after two rounds, will play in the next-to-last group today.

Four players are at one under: Steve Elkington, who shot a morning-round 68; Thomas Levet, who shot a 74 in the elements; third-round co-leader Padraig Harrington, who battled to a 76, and Peter Lonard, who also played early.

Lonard is an Australian with two top-five finishes on the PGA Tour this year, including a fifth in the Western Open. He shot a 68 despite hitting a ball out of bounds on No. 9.

Lonard had barely made the cut at two over, which changed his approach Saturday.

“You really have to be careful out there,” he said. “But when you start eight shots behind going into the third round, you’re not playing safe, are you? So I took my chances early.”

Lonard birdied Nos. 2, 3 and 4 and eagled No. 5.

And soon thereafter, the British Open took on its full character.

“I’m sure the Scottish people were really enjoying it today, watching us play,” Els said. “They must have really been laughing because they probably play in this 80% of the time.... Today the golf course showed its real teeth.”

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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

*--* LEADERS Ernie Els...-5 70-66-72--208 Soren Hansen...-3 68-69-73--210 OTHERS Sergio Garcia...-2 71-69-71--211 Justin Leonard...-2 71-72-68--211 Justin Rose...-2 68-75-68--211 David Duval...E 72-71-70--213 HARD TIMES Saturday’s highest scores: Lee Janzen...84 Colin Montgomerie...84 Warren Bennett...82 Stephen Ames...81 Mark Calcavecchia...81 Steve Stricker...81 David Toms...81 Tiger Woods...81

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