Scott stays in charge as Woods slumps

Adam Scott maintained his four-stroke lead early in the British Open final round despite making a shaky start while Tiger Woods's hopes seemed to be over after an extraordinary triple bogey.

Australian Scott, seeking his first major victory, hit his tee shot at the short first through the back of the green and was unable to get up and down for his par three.

The world number 13 showed he was made of stern stuff when he played the second in imperious fashion, arrowing his approach to within three feet of the pin and sinking his birdie putt.

But Scott dropped a stroke at the third and another bogey at the sixth sent him back to nine over par for the championship, four ahead of playing partner Graeme McDowell of Northern Ireland and Brandt Snedeker of the US.

Up ahead in the match in front, former world number one Woods pared the first five holes before suffering a calamitous moment at the sixth.

With his ball tight up against the wall of a steep greenside bunker, the 14-times major champion had to take evasive action as it rebounded back towards him following his first attempt to get out.

Woods then sank to his knees perched on the edge of the trap and, with one leg extended to keep his balance, he managed to make a strong contact with his ball which struck the lip of the bunker and squirted out across the green.

The American, who had birdied the sixth in each of his opening three rounds, then missed a 40-foot putt for bogey and a five-footer for double-bogey before gratefully sinking his third attempt.

Woods's first triple-bogey in a major championship for nine years left him six shots behind Scott with 12 holes to play but he quickly got one back with a brilliant chip-in for birdie at the seventh.