TULSA, Okla. – You needed only to listen to the sounds around Southern Hills yesterday to know what was taking place.

Tiger Woods was coming. He was coming on strong – historically strong.

The sounds of the hysterical spectators packing the grandstands and fairways around the course in the oven-like 100-plus-degree temperatures told the story.

With each remarkable shot Woods made en route to a record-tying 7-under-par 63 – a personal best for him in major championship competition – the cheers grew louder and more urgent.

“Tiger’s cheers are louder than other people’s cheers,” Geoff Ogilvy, who was playing three groups in front of Woods, said as Woods played the last hole.

This was vintage Woods – chasing history, chasing his first major championship of this year, the 13th of his career in his dogged pursuit of Jack Nicklaus’ record and the chance to become the first player in major-championship history to shoot a round of 62.

Woods stood on the 18th green with the late-afternoon sun casting long shadows across the golf course, his ball 15 feet away from an historic birdie putt that would have given him a 62.

His history-seeking putt horseshoed around the hole. At one point, it appeared halfway into the cup before rimming out and leaving him a tap-in for 63.

It was so close, Woods should have been credited with a 62½ and that elusive major-championship record.

Even Ogilvy, who spoke to reporters while Woods was playing 18, said he thought it would be “cool” if Woods birdied 18 “because no one has ever done it.”

Said Woods: “I knew if I made that putt on 18 it would have been a nice record.”

Record or not, Woods’s 63 leaves him at 6-under for the tournament with a two-shot lead over Scott Verplank, who shot 66 yesterday.

Woods’ charge began rather quietly, but as it gained momentum it became louder and louder. By the end of the day, it was like an unstoppable tidal wave.

Now the remainder of the PGA Championship field must deal with imposing wave that Woods represents.

“He does pretty well when he leads after two rounds, and he’s even better when he leads after three rounds, so maybe it is a little bit ominous,” Ogilvy said. “At some point, he’s not going to win (after owning the lead). But he is the best front-runner in history.”

Woods has owned or shared the 36-hole lead in 33 PGA Tour events in his career and gone on to win 27 times. When owning or sharing the lead entering the final round, Woods is 39-3.

“You know you’ve got to play well,” Ogilvy said of the weekend. “You don’t want him to get too far in front. But if you’ve got someone to chase maybe you play a little bit freer.”

Quietly for much of the day, Woods made his way around Southern Hills stalking the lead. It was as if he was tiptoeing his way up the leaderboard, making his birdies and looking businesslike doing so.

Finally, on the 12th green, Woods truly put a stamp on his resolute pursuit of his first major title of the year and his second consecutive PGA Championship.

He drained a 30-foot par save putt to extricate himself from trouble the way only he can, and Woods unleashed a series of fist pumps that further incited the already amped-up gallery.

It was at that moment that it appeared the game was truly on, that Woods was chasing not only his 13th major but history.

“You’ve got keep playing and plugging along,” Woods said. “I made some nice putts and one chip-in. That putt on 12 was huge to keep the round going. These are tough conditions and the golf course is playing a little bit tricky. That’s why I train as hard as I do.

“But,” Woods added, “we’ve got a long way to go.”

mark.cannizzaro@nypost.com