Ernie Els made partial amends for his missed cut at last week’s Masters with a fast start at the Heritage Classic in Hilton Head, South Carolina, on Thursday.
The world number five, who failed to qualify for the weekend for the first time in a major since the 1999 PGA Championship, fired a six-under-par 65 in the opening round at a breezy Harbour Town Golf Links.
That left the smooth-swinging South African alone in second place, two strokes behind pace-setting American Jerry Kelly who took advantage of calmer conditions in the morning.
Argentina’s Jose Coceres and Stephen Leaney of Australia returned matching 66s to lie joint third and 2004 champion Stewart Cink was among a group of five bunched on 67.
Els, without a win on the PGA Tour since the 2004 WGC-American Express Championship, rolled in a 25-foot eagle putt at the par-five second before reaching the turn in four-under 32.
Despite afternoon winds gusting up to 40km/h, he picked up further shots at the 13th and par-three 17th, where he holed out from a greenside bunker, to close to within two strokes of the lead.
”To start off well and feel like I’m in the tournament was a nice feeling,” the three-times major winner told reporters.
”I hit the ball solidly and felt really good, a lot better than last week,” added Els, who missed the halfway cut at a brutally difficult Augusta National after shooting 78 and 76.
”In the last two years, I haven’t really been where I think I should be and, at times, I’ve been so frustrated that I really didn’t want to talk to anybody.
”I haven’t won on US soil for quite a few years now and I’d like to win a couple, not just one. I’d like to get back to some really good golf.”
Asked what had changed for him since the Masters, Els replied: ”I don’t know if I was over-trained but I just wasn’t there mentally at Augusta.”
Maintaining momentum
Kelly, who tied for fifth in the opening major of the year, maintained that momentum at Harbour Town with a sparkling 63, the lowest opening round of his PGA Tour career.
The 40-year-old from Wisconsin, whose last Tour victory came at the 2002 Western Open, rattled up 10 birdies and two bogeys after teeing off at the par-four 10th.
”It was a solid ball-striking day and a solid putting day,” he said. ”I had a lot of kick-ins [short putts] and I made some 20-footers, which was a good combination.”
Masters champion Zach Johnson, who held off a late challenge by world number one Tiger Woods to claim his maiden major title by two shots Sunday, opened with a 70.
Level with the American were two Australians, United States Open champion Geoff Ogilvy and Aaron Baddeley, who won last year’s Heritage Classic by one shot from Jim Furyk.
Tour veteran Davis Love III, bidding for a record sixth title at Harbour Town, double-bogeyed the last for a 74 and Furyk, the world number two, carded a 71.
Britain’s Justin Rose, who tied for fifth at last week’s Masters, withdrew from the Heritage Classic because of a back injury before the start of the opening round. – Reuters