A takeoff after the farewell

ST. ANDREWS, Scotland -- With your back to the clubhouse, the walk along the Old Course winds through sandhills and gorse bushes and eventually to a priceless parcel of property that has to be seen to be believed. Tucked between the Eden Estuary and the Firth of Tay is a corner of the golf course where five holes and three greens converge.

When the sun shines and warm breezes flow, this is where the flavor of the British Open is juiciest, and yesterday's second round of the 134th British Open took shape around this vaunted bend. It is where Tiger Woods made two more birdies to take control of another major championship that is his to lose. It is where Brad Faxon's passion for the oldest golf championship bubbled over and where an unheralded German named Tino Schuster pitched in for an eagle to make an appearance on the leaderboard.

And, yes, it is where the ground shook as thunderous roars filtered down the fairways, a sure signal Jack Nicklaus had begun his final march across golf's grandest stage.

''He's been the biggest ambassador of the game that you can imagine," Faxon said of Nicklaus, who bowed out in a style befitting the living legend -- with a birdie putt at the 18th hole. It closed out a round of even-par 72 and while his two-day total of 3-over 147 missed the cut, the game's greatest champion gave the citizenry a vintage stroke to remember him by and this prideful town returned the favor with an ovation reminiscent of those extended to legends named Bobby Jones and Arnold Palmer.

Nicklaus was the leading man on a day when scintillating golf started in a cool, gray mist and was still there in bright evening sunshine as Colin Montgomerie -- a golfing hero here in his native land -- slam-dunked a birdie putt on the 18th green to work his way into today's final pairing alongside Woods.

For the record, it will be a daunting task for Montgomerie and his colleagues, for Woods is seemingly intent on making history repeat itself with another overwhelming conquest at the ''home of golf." Just as he did in 2000, when he won the claret jug by eight shots, Woods got to the halfway mark at 11-under 133, only this time his lead is four, not five. It was a bogey-free effort of 5-under-par 67 by Woods, who played three groups behind Nicklaus and hardly seemed bothered by the constant roars.

That's because he supplied plenty for the hearty Scots to continue their good cheer and when Montgomerie (66) lumbered along four groups later and birdied three of the final five holes to get into second place, thousands thundered their approval.

''The crowd was fantastic," said Montgomerie. ''I have a lot of respect for them for sticking around and helping me home."

Why shouldn't they have still been in attendance? They had been fed plenty of highlights on a day when the hard-and-fast conditions favored by the Royal & Ancient Golf Club were in vintage form. A 7,279-yard course never played so short, and behind Woods and Montgomerie came a lively list of players who got into the clubhouse at 6-under 138 -- Trevor Immelman (70), Vijay Singh (69), Peter Lonard (70), Jose Maria Olazabal (70), Robert Allenby (68), Scott Verplank (70), and Faxon (66), whose weeklong love affair with this golf-happy nation began with a 36-hole qualifier. It was a rare move for professionals of his stature and while it has won him widespread praise, Faxon's motives were simple.

''I didn't do it to impress anybody," said the Rhode Islander, who shot his lowest British Open score in relation to par in 48 rounds. ''I'm not trying to win over anybody. I wanted to play in the Open Championship."

And play he did, brilliantly from start to finish, his bogey-free effort coming in calmer weather than the chilling, wet weather he faced late Thursday when he shot 72. Faxon was at his silky-smooth best with the putter and needed it just 11 times in a blistering 5-under 31, but nowhere did he get into it more than when he reached that cozy amphitheater of St. Andrews, where holes crisscross, players stand aside while shots get fired over their heads, and you can often see two competitors in the same bunker playing at different flags.

With an 8-iron to 20 feet at the 175-yard, par-3 eighth, Faxon knocked down his fourth birdie of the day, then at the par-4 ninth, he ran a sizzling drive pin high, just right of the green, and two-putted from another area code for birdie No. 5. ''It had to be over 100 feet," said Faxon. ''I mean, I took more than 30 steps."

These massive putts are seen at all corners of St. Andrews and Faxon had another chance after slamming a drive close to the green at the 348-yard 12th. He nearly made that one, then at the par-4 13th, Faxon escaped a wild drive to the right by hitting a blind recovery shot from 195 yards and getting his ball some 50 feet from the hole. He lipped that one out, then did the same with an 18-footer at the par-5 14th, and when he burned the right edge from 12 feet at the par-4 15th, he wondered where the good fortune had gone.

But Faxon is never dejected when links golf provides the stage. ''I love coming over here. Coming over here to qualify got me in the spirit," he said, and his resiliency paid off when he faced another long putt, at the 18th. It was perhaps a 65-footer and it had to go down the Valley of Sin, which protects the green, up a firm slope, then down a slippery hill. Faxon pulled it off brilliantly, then knocked down a 6-footer for his sixth birdie, joining the group at 6 under.

There are five others -- Sergio Garcia (69), Fred Couples (71), Simon Khan (70), Bo Van Pelt (67), and Bart Bryant (70) -- at 5-under 139 and surely the names of James Braid, J.H. Taylor, and Old Tom Morris must be in the mix.

Only kidding, though on a day when the field average was 72.087 and even the unheralded Schuster elicited great cheers (he faded to 74--142 tied for 39th), there was superb play and highlights from start to finish. That Woods served up the most flawless display is hardly a surprise; in six British Open rounds on the Old Course, he is 30 under par. Had he not pulled a 4-foot birdie try at the par-4 17th, Woods's lead would have been even more, but he didn't deny he was quite pleased, while rejecting the notion that it felt like 2000 all over again.

''Thinking of 2000 is not going to help me hit a golf shot out there," said Woods. ''I have to be in the present here and now."

If Woods is on his game today and tomorrow, everyone else is playing for second. ''I'd have to go along with that remark," said Montgomerie. ''We are watching here a unique golfer on a unique golf course."

Unique, all the way down to that far corner of the course.