Colin Montgomerie and Tiger Woods fought out one of the epic battles on the European Tour yesterday and while victory went to the Scot temporarily, he may not win the war when they go head-to-head today.

Indeed, he may not even be fit to fight the next part of the campaign, given a back injury that almost caused him to give in shortly after he had started the third round of the Deutsche Bank Open here.

In an enthralling afternoon's golf, and despite his problem, Montgomerie got round in a seven-under-par 65, to lead the tournament after 54 holes on 17 under, 199. Woods, playing four groups ahead of him, set a breathtaking pace, being five under after five and finishing with a 64, to be 16 under overall. Justin Rose, the winner of three events already this season, had a 66, to be three behind Woods.

Montgomerie and Woods exhibited a brilliance rarely seen on any golfing stage and the American afterwards confessed that the last time he had played anything like as well for a complete round was nine months ago in the NEC Invitational, when he went round the Firestone course in 63.

But Montgomerie, pleased though he was with his play, was more concerned about his back. On Friday he revealed that he has to take four painkillers a day just to be able to play and yesterday, even though he took all four before the round started, felt it stiffening again by the third hole. By the sixth he had to call in Dale Richardson, the Tour's physio, who applied a liberal amount of embrocation to the affected area, and at the ninth he had more treatment, this time manipulative, which enabled him to carry on.

But asked if he was worried about being able to play today's final round, the Scot said: "I am seriously concerned about it. At one point I thought I wouldn't be able to carry on today, although I must confess if the physio had suggested leaving the course I wouldn't have - I was leading.

"I think Tiger's name on the board kept me going, but the fact is that I'm having to take far too many pills. I'm sure I'd be well over the limit now if I were driving a car." Montgomerie's predicament is made worse by the fact of Tiger's presence. He has a chance of beating the one man in world golf that everyone wants to beat, and also he has the chance of winning one of Europe's biggest tournaments and re-establishing himself as a force in the game.

He feels he is playing well again, that his putting has improved since he took to the long putter, and it is a case of Sod's Law that at this exact juncture the first physical problems of his career appear. "If my back's as bad for the final round as it was today," he said, "I'll play but I can't win."

If Woods plays anything like as well in the fourth round as he did in the third, Montgomerie will have to be at his best anyway. The American admitted that he had played a rare round. "Today," he said, "I was able to shape each and every shot the way I wanted. That happens no more than two or three times a year in tournaments"

In the whole round there was only one shot with which he was less than pleased. "At the 17th," he said, "I hit my second just a touch off the heel." Nevertheless, he birdied the hole He was asked how many perfect shots the round contained? "None," he replied, shortly.