Ernie Els turned the air blue in frustration as putting woes continued to hamper his attempts to force his way on to the leaderboard at the Open Championship on Friday.
The big South African has yet to win this year. But he had come into the tournament with high hopes of challenging after rediscovering his form in the Scottish Open, where he posted a closing 65 to finish third.
He has, however, left himself with a huge amount of work to do over the weekend after adding a second-round 70 to his opening 72 to stand at level par for the tournament.
That was six shots adrift of the pace being set by overnight leader Sergio Garcia and Els admitted he had spurned a string of chances to put himself closer to the leaders in good conditions for low scoring.
”It could have been four or five better,” he said. ”It was a frustrating day. I had a lot of looks at birdies and again I didn’t capitalise on a lot of it.
”The score is okay — it’s even par. But I still feel I could be quite a few better. But it is what it is. I move on from there. At least I am in the house on even par and maybe I can look at a good weekend.”
Els’s languid manner on the golf course has earned him the nickname ‘the Big Easy’ but he appeared anything but relaxed when he reacted to a missed birdie putt on the ninth green with an x-rated outburst.
”That’s just the way I felt,” he said. ”Normally I keep it all in. But I thought maybe let me get everything out.
”I didn’t see too many small kids so hopefully they all closed their ears. That’s what a Major does to you — you keep hitting good shots and keep missing them, you know.
”Nobody’s made of rock out there. We all have our feelings. As I say, I had bit of a moment of weakness out there. I let it all out and I felt better after that.”
The only blemish on the South African’s card was a bogey at the short 13th, which was offset by birdies on the 5th and the 11th, and he declared himself happy with his tee-to-green game.
”Hopefully the feeling I have with my swing stays because I might have a good chance over the weekend. I’d just like to just make a couple of putts — I’d feel a lot better about my whole game.”
Els admitted his chances of getting back into the battle for the claret jug could hinge on whether the weather conditions remain as benign as they were on Friday.
”I’d like a little bit of breeze to make it a little bit more tough,” he said. ”The way I struck it today you’d like conditions to be a little tougher.
”If even par is going to be the winning score, I’m right on track. If it’s not, I have to pick up some shots. It all depends on the weather tomorrow [Friday]. — AFP
