British Open: For much of the day, the roars that resonated around the dunes on this piece of golfing terrain in the Wirral were akin to that of the fat lady singing.

Tiger Woods was strutting his stuff, seemingly bolting the door on those conspiring to reclaim the claret jug he has possessed for the past year, and each deed, including audaciously holing out with his second shot for an eagle two on the 14th, was greeted with royal and ancient acclaim.

To all and sundry, it seemed that Woods was on an unstoppable and predestined route to further major glory. It looked to be all over, bar the shouting. But golf is rarely such a walk in the park and, late-on in the second round, there was sufficient evidence from familiar adversaries, among them Ernie Els, to indicate that this 135th Open Championship would be no one-man-show. Far from it, in fact.

When the dust had settled on an absorbing day's golf, Woods was indeed positioned as the leader after a second round 65 left him on 12-under-par 132, just two strokes adrift of the record low 36-holes total achieved by Nick Faldo at Muirfield in 1992.

However, the world's number one had only to cast a glance over his shoulder to find the resurgent figure of Els, emerging from the competitive doldrums, to lie one shot behind heading into what should be an intriguing weekend's play.

On a day of splendid sunshine, a trio of players - Woods, Els and Chris DiMarco, whose mother died just a fortnight ago - shared a new course record of 65. And the generally good scoring conditions were reflected in a cut that came at 143, one-under.

It wasn't, however, a good day for the quartet of Irish competitors with only one, Graeme McDowell, who had held the overnight lead, surviving into the weekend after shooting a 73 for 139, five-under.

Paul McGinley, who had been hovering on the mark for much of the afternoon and into the late evening, failed to make the cut by one shot after US Ryder Cup prospect Vaughn Taylor, in the fourth from last group, birdied the 18th to bring the cut from level to one-under.

Padraig Harrington, who failed to get any momentum, and Darren Clarke, who confirmed he would not play any competitive golf for the foreseeable future, were among some heavyweight casualties that also included Vijay Singh, Colin Montgomerie, David Howell, Fred Couples and Davis Love.

While John Daly spectacularly missed the cut when, two-under playing the last, he put two balls out-of-bounds at a time when caution would have been far more prudent a course of action.

For Woods, who suffered his first missed cut in a major as a professional in last month's US Open, it was one of those days when more things go right than wrong.

On the 14th, with 194 yards to the front of the green, he hit a four-iron approach that found the bottom of the hole for an eagle two. It was the highlight of a round that featured an eagle, six birdies and a single bogey.

There may not have been much conversation taking place between them on the course, but Nick Faldo, who played alongside Woods, could only foresee one winner.

"His touch is so good, his competitive ability is the best, I would predict he could get to 20-under. How are they going to beat him with that score? He's got a great gameplan, playing so many irons."

Faldo's sentiment was shared by McGinley, who repeated his pre-championship assertion that, "the guy with the most skill is going to play the best around here, and Tiger has the most skill of anybody in the world.

"You've got to work the ball, you've got to manipulate it. You've got to shape it off those tight lies, and you've got to work it into the wind and have a good short game. He's the best player in the world."

So, it was a case of back to normal for Woods, playing in only his third tournament since the US Masters in April, a period of inactivity due to his father's illness and death. Woods, unquestionably the best front runner in golf, refused to let his thoughts get ahead of him as he seeks to retain the trophy he won at St Andrews last year.

"I'm not here with the jug," he said to the gathering in the media centre. "We've got 36 holes to go. Unless there's some kind of rain storm coming in and it is cancelled after two days, we have a long way to go yet."

DiMarco's performance was particularly impressive, considering it came just two weeks after the death of his mother.

Indeed, he claimed that the only reason he was playing here was because that is what his mother would have wanted.

"Walking between the ropes is absolutely therapeutic for me," said the player, who is intent on making the US team by right for the Ryder Cup at The K Club in September.