ST. ANDREWS – The Masters was supposed to be Jose Maria Olazabal’s specialty when it comes to major championships.

Olazabal, after all, has won twice at Augusta, in 1994 and in 1999, and hasn’t really been a force in Open Championships.

The Spaniard, in fact, didn’t even qualify for the Open, getting in at the last minute as an alternate when his countryman and close friend Seve Ballesteros withdrew.

But here he is, entering the final round of the 134th Open Championship in second place, just two shots behind leader Tiger Woods. Olazabal, after a 4-under-par 68 yesterday, stands at 10-under for the tournament to Woods’ 12-under.

Today, the two will be paired together in the final round. Oddly, they were in the same three-ball for the first two rounds of the tournament.

“We’ve had some practice this week,” Woods joked. “It will be fun [today]. Ollie is a good friend of mine. We’ll go out and compete and try to win a championship.”

For Olazabal, because of his sketchy Open record and because of the way he slid into the field in the 11th hour, it’s an unlikely charge toward a title.

He’s missed the cut in three of the last five Opens he’s played and finished tied for 31st and tied for 54th in the two cuts he made. His best finish was a third place at Muirfield in 1992. Other than that, he has five top 20 finishes in the 18 other Opens he’s played in.

He said that a reason for his solid play has been his being relaxed all week.

“Maybe it’s because of how I got in,” Olazabal said. “I played the qualifying at Sunningdale and didn’t make it over there. At that time, I thought the only chance to get into the Open I had would be finishing as the best [non-exempt] player at the Scottish Open.

“So I thought at the time the chances were very slim. Then the R&A made a phone call and said I was first reserve and I got in. Obviously, it’s a bonus to be here. I have a lot of respect for the golf course, for the tradition, for what it means. And just being able to be a part of it this year is wonderful.”