HOYLAKE, England — There was that remarkable chip at the Masters, when the ball curled down a treacherous ridge, hung on the lip of the cup for two full seconds, and finally tumbled in.

Until now, that was probably the most memorable shot of Tiger Woods' brilliant career.

Well, it's got some competition.

Fifteen months after his stunning chip-in at Augusta National, Woods had another swing for the ages Friday in the British Open — a 4-iron from 209 yards that soared above the 14th fairway, skipped four times on the green, slammed into the flagpole and disappeared into the hole.

The improbable eagle was the centerpiece of a 7-under 65 that pushed Woods into the lead and might just go down as his best swing yet — assuming he can hold on for his 11th major championship.

The Masters chip-in, you'll remember, was followed by a green jacket.

He'd like to accompany this shot with the claret jug.

"Trust me," Woods said, "I'm not trying to put the ball in the hole. I'm just trying to put it on the green and get out of there with a 4."

Instead, he wrote down 2 on the way to a 12-under 132 total. The greatest closer in golf has never squandered a 36-hole lead in a major, though he's not taking anything for granted at Royal Liverpool.

Ernie Els was only one stroke back and playing with Woods in the final group Saturday, having plodded along to a matching 65 that didn't include anything as dramatic as Woods' eagle but plenty of good shots. The Big Easy just kept putting his irons close to the flag, kept punching in birdie putts (he made seven of them, all inside of 20 feet) and made sure to avoid any bogeys.

"I didn't want to get crazy aggressive, but I needed to keep the foot on the pedal," Els said. "He's quite a good front-runner, so you need to reach out and try to hold him back."

The sunny weather and light breezes prevailed at the start of the third round, which figured to produce more low scores. England's Andrew Marshall put up an early 68 and Scott Verplank was 6 under for the day with a couple of holes to play.

Unlike the shot at Augusta, which had Woods pleading from his knees, he didn't know what happened Friday until the gallery gasped. With a stunned look, he turned to caddie Steve Williams and asked, "Is it in?"

Told that it was, Woods broke into a big smile, high-fived Williams and shrugged his shoulders, as if he couldn't believe himself that he made the shot. He couldn't even see the flag when he swung.

As Els headed to the first tee, the scoreboard already showed Woods at 12 under. The laid-back South African wasn't intimidated.

"If he's 12 under, there's some birdies to be made out there," Els said. "I had to get my share of them."

Els cut off a stroke with a bump-and-run 7-iron that stopped rolling 2 feet from the cup on No. 3. He shaved another with a 4-iron that stopped 15 feet left of the flag on the 14th, setting up a nearly as-impressive birdie on the hole that Woods eagled.

It will be the first time Woods and Els have played in the final group at a major since the last round of the 2000 U.S. Open, although that was hardly a fair fight. Woods had a 10-shot lead, and wound up winning by 15.

But with two days remaining, the British Open was hardly a two-man race.

Chris DiMarco, whose mother died of a heart attack July 4, emerged from his slump with a 65 and was three shots behind at 9-under 135. Another shot back was two-time U.S. Open champion Retief Goosen, who had a 66.

Still, it all starts with Woods, who is trying to become the first back-to-back British Open champion since Tom Watson in 1982-83.

"Tiger at his best is hard to beat," said DiMarco, who lost a Masters playoff to Woods after last year's chip-in. "All I can do is go out and try to play the best golf I can play.

Masters champion Phil Mickelson will need a lot to happen. He never got anything going in his 71, leaving him eight shots behind. That still leaves him in better shape than Vijay Singh carded a 76, missing the cut for the first time in 15 majors.