Destiny may be summoning him, or so the multitudes congregating over the links of Royal Lytham & St Annes would have us believe, but Colin Montgomerie - who has moved into unknown and dangerous territory as far as his quest for the claret jug is concerned - is taking a cautious approach to deciding whether to answer the call.

Yesterday, as he retained the lead in the 130th British Open, there was a danger the sneaked glances at the numerous scoreboards dotted around the landscape would deflect Monty from concentrating on his own game.

"It's not easy playing from the front, always looking over one's shoulders," he conceded. Yet, he finished the day as he had started, as leader, although now just one stroke ahead of Sweden's Pierre Fulke.

Unable to reproduce the magic of the first day, something that was left to veteran Des Smyth who spearheaded a staunch Irish challenge, Montgomerie settled for a solid rather than spectacular day's work. So it was that a second round 70 for seven-under-par 135 left him one shot clear of Fulke with a trio of the old, in Jesper Parnevik, and the new, in Greg Owen and Joe Ogilvie, two shots behind the broad-shouldered Scotsman.

"This is like a 28-mile race. I've managed to cover half of it and there are another 14 to go," insisted Montgomerie. But it was probably just as well for him the various scoreboard attendants only went down as far as five-under on the leaderboards, otherwise he would have noticed Tiger Woods actually got to four-under with four holes to play, before finishing on the three-under-par 139 mark.

An hour before his tee-off time, Woods - and his four minders and two police officers - had strolled to the practice range with the calm assurance you'd expect from the world's number one, breaking stride only to acknowledge Angel Cabrera practising bunker shots. If anything, after a round of 69 left him three strokes behind the midway leader, that confidence was even more marked. "I feel pretty good about where I am right now," said Woods.

All of which suggests Montgomerie was right to acknowledge the chase is on in earnest.

Indeed, as part of the psychology that is part and parcel of these majors, Woods couldn't resist putting the view into the public domain that he has "won major championships . . . I've won the Open championship, and that relieves a lot of tension. If you haven't won one, it becomes a little more difficult."

Maybe it wasn't what Montgomerie wanted to hear, not long after finishing his own round, but when those views were put to him, he insisted he was ready for all-comers. "Although I am very experienced at this game now, this is new territory for me. I haven't been in this position in an Open before. But I feel I am playing well enough, and if I can keep my emotions intact, then I am comfortable," said Montgomerie.

On another day of nearly perfect weather conditions, the course's main defence proved to be some devilish pin placements. All of which didn't seem to bother Smyth, who equalled Montgomerie's 65 of the previous day, or Pβdraig Harrington, who improved by nine shots for a 66, his best ever round in a British Open, to join Paul McGinley on 141.

And Darren Clarke was not too despondent, despite dropping two shots in his closing four holes. "Even with those silly mistakes on the back nine, I am only four shots off the lead, so I have got to be optimistic. All the more so, in fact, because I didn't play particularly well," insisted Clarke, who had a 69 for 139, to be one of eight men - including Woods and Smyth - on that mark.

"From now on, 99 per cent of the game is all about mental strength," insisted Montgomerie, who must have wondered if the fates were conspiring against him when his approach shot to the 10th hit the flag but then ricocheted off the green. Yet, there was a stubbornness about his response - picking up birdies at the 11th, where he chipped dead, and 13th, when he hit a sandwedge to three feet - that indicated maybe his time has come. Certainly, this time, the huge crowds have taken to Monty with a warmth never as apparent in the past. "Maybe they feel I am due one, and that this is my golden opportunity," suggested a player who has twice finished second in the US Open.

Two of his chief pursuers, in fact, yesterday repeated their bewilderment at Montgomerie's failure to win a major. "I just can't figure it out," insisted Parnevik, "this tournament should be made for him." And Woods agreed, adding: "If you look at his record around the world, I mean, he has played extremely well . . . this golf course is very demanding off the tee, which should sit very nicely with Colin."

Montgomerie has only won wire-to-wire once in the past, but it is recent history. That feat was achieved in the Irish Open at Fota Island just three weeks ago, yet its proximity is also a reminder of how tiring it was to stay ahead of the chasing pack. Here, Fulke - who had a second round 67 for 136 - is the man closest to him, while another Swede, Parnevik, is, as Montgomerie stated, "the most obvious challenger", given his British Open record.

Yet, if Monty wants to believe in destiny, so too can the defending champion, Woods. On the 14th hole yesterday, his drive was so wild that it missed the fairway, and the adjacent rough, by some 30 yards.

He proceeded to hit a wedge to 30 feet and holed the birdie putt. His caddie Steve Williams gave him a tiger punch and told him it was "like a car-park birdie," a reference to Seve Ballesteros's birdie out of the car-park on the 16th hole in 1979. Ballesteros won that year. Sometimes, such breaks are the difference between winning and losing!