Woods gets off the blistering start at Royal Troon

While unlikely midway leader Skip Kendall (left) waited to begin his chase for history Saturday, a host of likely challengers were closing in on him at the 133rd Open Championship. Chief among them was Tiger Woods, who birdied three of his first four holes to get to 4-under. Also making moves on a misty day at Royal Troon were 1997 champion Justin Leonard, Davis Love III and reigning PGA Champion Shaun Micheel.

TROON, Scotland (AP) -- Some of golf's biggest names surged into contention Saturday early in the third round of the British Open.

Phil Mickelson birdied the first two holes to get within two shots of the lead, while Tiger Woods was another shot back after birdies on three of his first holes. Davis Love was tied at 4 under with Woods after also making birdies on the first, second and fourth holes.

Justin Leonard, who won his only major title the last time the Open was held at Royal Troon, also made a move, getting to 4 under at the turn before making a bogey on the 10th hole.

Rain soaked the course overnight, and players took advantage of the softer conditions with aggressive shots at the hole.

Woods made a 12-footer for birdie on the first hole, knocked it to 2 feet on the second and had an eagle putt of about 20 feet on the fourth that he just missed.

The moves by the top players threatened to upset what had been an unlikely leaderboard midway through the Open.

At the top of that leaderboard was Skip Kendall, who was 7 under through 36 holes, one shot ahead of France's Thomas Levet.

Kendall is 0-for-310 on the PGA Tour, the kind of streak that usually doesn't end in a major championship. But considering Ben Curtis won the Open last year in his first major championship, stranger things have happened.

"I think it's just a matter of time," Kendall said. "Hopefully, this will be mine."

Kendall, who had a mid-afternoon tee time, had to play in a qualifier just to get in the field, and was largely overlooked in the first round despite turning in a nice 2-under 69. But the 39-year-old American made everyone notice with an eagle on the 16th hole Friday on his way to a 66 and a one-shot lead over Levet.

And he has a good feeling he can do it again.

"This isn't my first rodeo," said Kendall, a 10-year tour veteran. "You just go play golf and hopefully play well."

No matter what happens on the weekend, the cheesehead from Wisconsin has had a pretty good trip overseas already. He brought along his mother to celebrate her 80th birthday and got a thrill when he shook hands with Prince Andrew behind the 11th green during his first round on Thursday.

Now, if he could only get his name on that claret jug.

"I think the main thing for me is I just need to stay relaxed and have fun out there," Kendall said. "The golf will take care of itself. But for me, it's all about staying relaxed and having that kind of calmness, I guess, inside."

It's hard to be calm, of course. He's playing in only his third Open and suddenly finds himself in the last group on the weekend.

Kendall was ahead of a handful of international players who aren't household names, but just down the board a bit are some players with pedigree.

Vijay Singh and Ernie Els were three shots back, and so was hometown hero Colin Montgomerie, who was followed around the course Friday by thousands urging "Come on, Monty! Come on!"

Kendall, who came agonizingly close to his first win earlier this year when he lost to Mickelson in a playoff at the Bob Hope Classic, isn't exactly a hard-scrabble journeyman. He's won more than $6.5 million in his career and is nearing $1 million for this year alone.

He's played in only 13 major championships before this week, and had to get in the hard way, surviving on the number at a qualifier last month at Congressional Golf Club.

But, for a player who has never been in the position he was after Friday's round, with a few hundred reporters asking him questions, he seemed quite comfortable.

"Some people think that they need to check my pulse, but I know when that's elevated," Kendall said. "Outwardly I may not look uptight or whatever, nervous, but I know inside how I feel."

Whatever happens to the scrappy 150-pounder who used to wait tables at an Olive Garden in Florida and hit balls in a grassy field between lunch and dinner shifts, he'll have had quite a week.

Having his mother here was a treat, and then there was the meeting with Prince Andrew as he walked off the 11th green.

"I went over and shook his hand and talked to him briefly," Kendall said. "And that was pretty exciting to me. Seemed like a great guy. I don't know.

"Is he?"

Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.