Green sets standard as woods falters

Green carded a brilliant closing 64 to equal the course record and lowest round ever in an Open at Carnoustie, matching the feat of Steve Stricker yesterday.

A bogey on the last cost Green a 63 and share of the lowest round ever in a major, the left-hander finishing with a five under total of 279. That was four off the lead held by Spain's Sergio Garcia, with Ernie Els, Andres Romero and Stricker sharing second on six under.

"I played great golf, as simple as that," said Green, winner of the Austrian Open in June for his first European Tour title in a decade. "I knew about the 63 and that a par on the last would get the job done.

"There was a bit of pressure on the last tee shot and I hit a fairly good shot, just a yard left of where I was aiming."

Asked what sort of target he had set, Green added: "Hopefully a really good one. The end of this course is very demanding, anything can happen. I will have to wait and see, you never know what might happen."

Woods had kept his faint hopes of a remarkable fightback from eight shots behind alive with birdies on the fourth and fifth, but bogeyed the eighth after finding a bunker off the tee.

The world number one found more sand off the tee, this time his approach to the 11th plugging in the waterlogged hazard. He took a free drop but failed to get the ball out at the first attempt.

At one under par he was still eight behind Garcia, who had briefly led by four shots after a birdie on the third.