Open Championship Notebook: Monty's dream lives on

Plus, Ernie Els is frustrated with his putting, while Vijay Singh says he likes his position heading into the weekend. After a nine-year absence, Michael Campbell is back in contention, while Retief Goosen hopes his steadiness will lead to a second straight major victory, and more.

TROON, Scotland -- Colin Montgomerie's dream of winning a major is still alive after a second successive 2-under 69 Friday in The Open Championship at Royal Troon. With a halfway total of 4-under 238, the 41-year-old Scot, playing on his home track, goes into the third round only three behind surprise leader Skip Kendall, a little-known American just like last year's winner Ben Curtis.

"I know this course as well as anybody. And I'll do OK at the weekend, I'm sure," Montgomerie said. "I got fantastic support out there again, incredible. I've said I was looking forward to this tournament and I've done well, as I was expecting to do, to be honest.

"I used to live less than 100 yards from here and it is emotional in some circumstances," he added. "[His three-putt bogey on the final hole Friday] was my first three-putt of the championship, but these things happen and I would have taken 69 at the start of the day.

"I'm very happy with my position. They know and I know that I know this course better than anybody and I'm in a very good position," he said. "I've never really performed well in any sort of windy conditions, so I'd prefer it to remain the way it is."

CONFUSION FOR LEVET: Thomas Levet escaped a two-shot penalty Friday when marshals moved railings along the first fairway without authorization.

Levet, a co-leader after the first round, hooked his opening tee shot next to an ice cream stand, and referee Andy Yamanaki of the Japanese tour gave him relief. Levet was still blocked by two sets of railings to keep the gallery from the fairway, and those railings are deemed immovable obstructions.

Yamanaki went to help Matthew Goggin, who needed a separate ruling. While he was away, marshals took down the railings that had been in Levet's line.

''That wasn't known both by Levet and the referee,'' said Royal & Ancient Rules Secretary David Rickman. ''It was agreed it was a misunderstanding and there will be no penalty.''

Levet would have been penalized if he had been involved in moving the railing.

NICKLAUS SIGHTING: Jack Nicklaus stopped in at Royal Troon on Friday and said he wasn't longing to tee it up.

"I have no desire to be out there," Nicklaus said. "My golf game is certainly not in any shape to play it."

But the three-time Open champion said he probably would be back next year.

Nicklaus turns 65 next year, his final year of eligibility. Knowing that, the Royal & Ancient changed the rotation so the Open would return to St. Andrews in 2005. Nicklaus won two of his claret jugs at the home of golf.

"The R&A paid me a compliment when they adjusted the year, and I think it would be a slap in the face if I didn't play. If I'm able, I'll be back."

The Golden Bear had no reason to return to Royal Troon -- and not many fond memories.

He lost a ball and took a 10 on the 11th hole and shot 80 in his first Open appearance. His best finish at Troon was fourth place in 1973, four shots behind wire-to-wire winner Tom Weiskopf.

"Troon was just a course I struggled with a bit," he said. "I don't dislike Troon. I like it. It was just a difficult course for me.

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NICE RECOVERY: Brad Faxon opened with a 3-over 74 and already was 3-over Friday through four holes. What was going through his mind?

"When that first flight back home is," Faxon said.

But it all turned around with a sand wedge into 3 feet for a birdie on the seventh. Faxon birdied six out of eight holes, shot 31 on the back nine for a 68 and was back in the Open at even-par 142.

"I did a very good job of not trying to make the cut or worrying about the cut or thinking about anything other than just hanging in there," Faxon said. "Needless to say, I'm excited, because I haven't had a round like that in a while. I have a chance to get back into the tournament."

DISTRACTIONS: In a comical sequence of distractions on the 10th hole, Tiger Woods was put off by photographers, a camera crew and eventually a train.

It started when he wasn't even over the ball, yelling at photographers who shot pictures as Lee Westwood was in the middle of his swing.

"C'mon, guys. He's swinging! Show some respect," Woods said.

Then, as he stood over his ball in the rough, Woods backed off when a three-man crew from the BBC walked along the back of the green in his line. He backed off again when he heard a camera click behind him.

And just when he was ready to go, Woods backed off a fourth time because the train along the 10th fairway came roaring by. Woods smiled, but by this time, the marshals were so edgy that they cried out, "Quiet, please!"

Of course, the train didn't listen.

Once he finally hit the shot, it sailed right of the green into the rough.

ELS HUNTING THE LEADERS: Ernie Els could not wait to get to work on the practice putting green Friday afternoon despite remaining in contention for a second Open title in three years. The South African superstar felt frustrated after shooting a second-consecutive 2-under-par 69.

"I guess I am pretty happy as I played some good holes and got away with a good score," said Els. "Shooting 69 in a major is a good score, but I feel a little frustrated because I think I left some shots out there.

"I can't be too hard on myself because I am 4-under par, which is three behind the leader, and hopefully I can make that up over the weekend," he added. "But I would love to make some more putts -- you'll see a smile on my face then.

"It is not the greens, they are great," Els stressed. "It is me. I am not quite comfortable with the putter this week. I am making some good short ones, but the scoring ones I am missing and that's a little frustrating."

Els felt shades of Shinnecock Hills -- where he was on fire until the wheels came off in the final round of the U.S. Open -- in practice before his round, which made him push for a good score, and he suggested that might have been his problem.

"I felt good today and my warm-up was really good," he said. "I started to hit the ball the way I did at Shinnecock and felt today was the day for me to go lower.

"Maybe that's why I tried to push a little bit on the front nine, and when I missed the putts I got frustrated with myself and took that into the back nine," he added. "All in all, 69 is not bad but I felt I could have done a bit better today. At least I have put myself in contention."

SINGH READY TO GRAB GLORY: Vijay Singh is determined to grab another chance at Open glory this weekend at Royal Troon after carding a 1-under 70 in the second round on Friday for a 4-under halfway total of 138.

The Fijian has missed just two cuts in 16 Open appearances, finishing sixth at St. Andrews in 1995 and second last year.

"I don't know if I am owed one but I know I have to go out there and grab it," said Singh. "I was given chances before and I didn't take them and I am in a great position again this week.

"If someone had given me a 70 starting out today, I would have taken that," he added. "And the way I am playing right now, I feel like I have a good chance on Sunday."

Singh has won the Masters and PGA Championship, and victory on Sunday would leave him just needing a U.S. Open title to complete a career Grand Slam -- a feat only achieved by Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and Tiger Woods.

"It would be nice," Singh added. "I am playing well, which is the best way to attack them, and if you feel good about your game then you have a good chance of achieving that.

"Whenever you play well you are going to enjoy it, but I am pretty relaxed out there," he said. "It's hard enough in the conditions out there to tighten up so I was trying to feel relaxed, breathe a little bit better and try and score a bit better.

"Today I struck the ball beautifully coming in where those left to right winds can really get you in trouble," he said. "But I played really well and I am really excited."

NINE YEARS LATER FOR CAMPBELL: Michael Campbell of New Zealand, so close to winning the Open nine years ago, is finally back in with another great chance. Campbell, who led by three with a round to play at St. Andrews in 1995 and had a putt on the final green to be in the playoff with John Daly and Costantino Rocca, stands at 4-under 138 after two rounds and right in the thick of things at halfway.

The 35-year-old has had an incredible roller-coaster ride since that memorable week at the Home of Golf. He compares it to a tap turning on and off.

"Right now it's running pretty red hot," he said. "And I'm going to turn that tap on further and further until it flows out."

Campbell, whose great-great-great grandfather Sir Logan Campbell emigrated from Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1845 and became Mayor of Auckland, has not had a top-10 finish in any major since St. Andrews.

He even lost his European Tour card the following year, then came back to climb as high as 14th in the world, but then crashed again. Things reached a nadir at the 2003 Players Championship, where, he opened with an 89 while struggling with a shoulder injury.

To rebuild his career, he came back to the European Tour, and 12 months ago -- the week after the 2003 Open -- he won the Irish Open in a playoff. And whatever he achieves this weekend, Campbell will think long and hard about ever taking his family back to the PGA Tour full-time.

"The hardest thing was spending 12 weeks on the road. Never again," he stated. "The kids got really, really ratty and it was very unsettling to be traveling that length of time with them, two nannies and my wife.

"Being a creature of comfort, coming back to Europe seemed to turn my whole game around again," he explained. "We kept our place in Brighton (England), and when we came back last week it felt like being at home."

GOOSEN MAINTAINS STRONG FORM: A second straight major -- and third successive tournament win -- remains a strong possibility for Retief Goosen following a bogey-free 70 on Friday at Royal Troon.

Goosen may be the world No. 6, but he is the game's hottest player at the moment, after his nail-biting victory over Phil Mickelson at the U.S. Open and then a five-stroke stroll to the European Open title around Dublin's K Club.

The South African stands at 3-under 139 at the halfway mark, with the lone birdie of his second round coming courtesy of a 9-iron to 10 feet on the 405-yard seventh.

"The wind was stronger and it was very cold this morning, but when it's tougher the better players will come to the top and I'm happy with my round," he said. "I didn't play all that well on the back nine, but I made a few good up and downs, especially 17 and 18."

First he sank a 25-footer and then he splashed out of sand to within a few inches of the hole.

"It's never easy to keep going following a major (victory)," he added. "But I had a week off last week to sort of recover and am looking forward to the weekend."

Goosen finished only 20 minutes after Michael Campbell, who had set the clubhouse target of 4-under at the time, and had then talked of how he falls in and out of love with the game.

"I think it's the same for everybody," said Goosen, the two-time European Order of Merit winner. "When you play well you like it. When you don't you hate it.

"It's a tough game," he added. "When you're not playing well, it's not easy to lift yourself and be motivated and keep practicing and waiting for it to start happening again."

It is all been happening for him lately, though, and there is no indication yet that that is about to come to an end.

CASEY'S CRASH: Paul Casey's ride atop the leaderboard at the Open didn't last long.

Casey hit into a pot bunker and made double bogey on the third hole to fall out of the lead, but recovered well and was still among the pack of contenders heading to the back nine.

That's when it all came crashing down. He bogeyed three straight holes, then took a double bogey on the 13th for a 40 on the back nine and a 6-over 77.

"I just didn't know what to do out there today," Casey said. "The golf ball was not going where I wanted it to go. When you play the first three holes, not finding a fairway, you know it's going to be a struggle."

The good news? He was still at 1-over 143, still only eight shots behind.

"There's still a chance," the Englishman said. "There are low numbers out there."

SCOTTISH ROOTS: Even though he comes from the Great White North and had hopes of playing hockey, former Masters champion Mike Weir has golf in his heritage.

His great-grandfather was born in Scotland, and his grandfather made his first hole in one at age 87.

"Until he passed away, he carried his bag," Weir said. "We used to hustle to catch up to him. He was an amazing guy."

PERRY LEARNS: Kenny Perry went 11 years without playing in the Open, even some years when he was eligible. That's not all that surprising considering Scott Hoch is among his best friends on tour.

Perry had other reasons, however.

"I had a young family at the time," Perry said after a 70 left him four shots out of the lead. "I didn't want to be too far away from them. They needed me at home. My kids are now 20, 18 and 16. It's freed me up to where I've been able to relax and enjoy my golf the last couple of years."

Perry still has some learning to do on the links. A great reminder came in his first round, when he hit into deep rough and squirted the next one into a bunker.

"Up against the face, into the face ... I'm thinking I can't hit it," he said. "I hit it at the crowd. All the people were backing up. I was aiming right at them. I hit it into the crowd and had a 70-yard shot, and pitched it to 6 feet. It was the greatest bogey in my life."

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