Golf
Els still lurking in George
2012-01-20 11:58
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George - While crowd favourite Ernie Els ended day one of the Volvo Golf Champions eight shots off the pace, after a two-under-par 71, he may yet give the leaders a scare at Fancourt.
"I would love to have given them [the crowd] better golf but I've got a couple of days to do that," Els said.
The 'Big Easy' was one over par for his round standing on the 16th tee, but finished off his round with three birdies in a row.
He had a short birdie putt at the par-five 13th hole but missed the near tap-in.
"I was really mad about the putt I missed on 13. It was a two-foot putt," he said.
"Other than that I'm glad with the under-par score."
Els said he needed to play competitive golf to get his season going.
"I played here, I think, about eight to 10 times through the December holidays, making six, seven, eight birdies with my mates, but it's different when you are playing competitive golf."
The 35-man field was greeted with unusually hot weather on the first day, with temperatures reportedly reaching 39 degrees celsius, and Els hoped for windier, cooler conditions.
"When the wind comes up, this course is a totally different animal," he said.
"It was as easy as you're going to find it.
"They have the tees up on a lot of holes and obviously guys played really good, but this course has got a lot of teeth and it has not showed it yet."