Highlights: The Open third round

By Matt Slater BBC Sport at Hoylake

Woods has dominated Els in the past

We wanted a duel in the sun, we had to settle for a grind in the grey.

Compelling though it was, Tiger Woods v Ernie Els (the Hoylake edition) failed to reach the heights so many here were hoping for.

One shot apart when they started, they were one shot apart when they finished.

But after their virtuoso 65s on a sun-drenched Friday, their 71s on a cloudy Saturday were far more humdrum.

Woods continued with his safety-first policy from the tee and was consistently obliged to play his second shot first.

But the 30-year-old American was happy to play catch up on the fairway - he backs his ability with a mid-iron implicitly.

The South African, on the other hand, played like a man with a plan to attack but without his most accurate artillery.

He was having one of those days when he couldn't quite work out where all those good shots had gone.

It is to his credit that he kept plugging away, particularly as these off days have come in Woods' company rather too regularly to be passed off as coincidence.

When Els bogeyed the first hole of a play-off at the Dubai Desert Classic in February to hand Woods victory it was the seventh time he had finished second to the American.

Els, a two-time US Open champion at 27, has reciprocated just three times. Only Vijay Singh can match this amount of Tiger torment.

The Hoylake galleries did their best to lift 'Ernie, lad'

But it is possible to want something too much. And from the moment he fired a wedge straight at the 1st pin only to find the front bunker it seemed Els might be about to fall into a Tiger trap once more.

The 36-year-old failed to get up and down, while Woods completed a regulation par to stretch his one-shot advantage to two after just 10 minutes of combat.

Was this episode of the Tiger v Ernie show going to end like so many before?

The last time the two had played together on a weekend at a major was in the final round of the 2000 US Open at Pebble Beach. The American carried the day 67-72.

Els would also be a distant second a month later when Woods ran away with the Open at St Andrews. Like I said, we'd seen this show before.

But the Hoylake galleries weren't resigning themselves to a re-run, and did their best to lift 'Ernie, lad'.

It seemed to work. The world number one under-hit his approach to the 2nd and found the bunker. Els was pin-high in the middle of the green.

Now it was the younger man's turn to fail to get up and down, while Els sunk a 15-footer for a two-shot swing and a share of the lead on 11 under.

There were no fireworks - but both men dug in

Both took two-irons at the 3rd and again Woods' was the shorter of the two. He then made the percentage play, aiming away from the front-right pin, and found the left edge. Els went for the flag and saw his ball roll through the back of the green.

No matter. A great lag putt saved par, Woods followed suit and they moved off to the 4th all square.

Here both took irons but only Woods found the fairway. That, however, did not stop Els going straight at the pin. The result was becoming a recurring motif - Woods on the green, Els in the bunker. This time he did save par.

The next hole would see Els smash a driver 50 yards further than Woods' two-iron. But once more his approach work let him down. Tiger's low road brought a birdie, while Ernie's high road brought par.

And then, at the 6th, it seemed the anticipated fireworks would finally begin. Woods stiffed his tee shot to the 202-yard par-three only for Els to almost do the same.

But Els, now down at eighth in the world due to his injury-exacerbated slump, missed his putt to fall two behind.

Worse was to follow at the 7th. Woods tapped his two-iron down the middle, Els creamed a driver into a bush down the right. Presented with an unplayable lie, Els took a drop.

Gripping but error-strewn, it was like a Premiership relegation battle

But Woods had repeated his mistake at the 2nd. His under-hit approach buried itself in the bunker guarding the flag.

Moments later, Els, playing his third, joined him there. It was that kind of day. Gripping but error-strewn, like a Premiership relegation battle.

And then came a crucial moment. Woods blasted his ball way past the flag, missed the comeback putt and dropped back to 12 under. Els, despite a tricky stance, got up and down for the proverbial good bogey.

That hole seemed to set the pattern for the rest of the round. Woods would appear to be in complete control only to make an uncharacteristic mess of something seemingly straightforward.

Els, at odds with his irons, would miss greens but scramble pars.

The three-time major winner did, however, find some fluency towards the end. And birdies on the 16th and 18th got him into red numbers for his round and back into a share of second place with Chris DiMarco and Sergio Garcia.

Woods, also picked up the requisite birdies on the par-fives, but in keeping with his own frustrating round managed to three-putt the 17th for a bogey.

Saturday stalemate

Coming to the course before play, I was worried Els' Tiger troubles would flare up again and curtail everybody's fun.

I would have gladly taken a Saturday stalemate in their decade-long tussle for supremacy.

As it happened, I got my wish. Just not in the way I had expected.

So the duel in the sun has been postponed. And Sunday's protagonists are now Woods and Garcia - no less mouth-watering a prospect than Saturday's billing.

But I have a sneaky suspicion Els will not be too disappointed.

His is a talent that flowers best under less intense competition and a second Claret Jug for the Big Easy is now more likely than it was before play.