After a year in which he failed to win for the first time since his rookie season in 1990, Ernie Els has given himself a great chance to re-ignite his career at the weather-affected World Golf Championships-CA Championship.
Hours and hours on the practice range paid dividends with a second round of 66 at Doral Golf Resort and Spa in Miami, America.
On the ten under par mark at the halfway point, the 40 year old South African goes into the weekend one in front of Australian Robert Allenby, whose second eventful day in a row included a hole-in-one – the 14th of his competitive career – with a five wood at the 233-yard 13th hole.
“I went back to the drawing board basically,” said Els. “I was a little bit worried going out this week, because I’ve not really tested my new stance in competition.
“But it’s been two good days – especially considering where I was last week. I just got out of sync and when you make changes you’ve got to hit a million balls to get used to them.
“I’m just pleased we got finished, because the weather is changing a lot. We played the last three holes very fast to get done. But I’m in pretty good shape. I’m playing well but we’re only half way there, so now I’ve just got to keep it going.”
Allenby has so far had three eagles, 12 birdies, seven bogeys and a double bogey as he tries for his first victory in the United States since 2001.
“The conditions were pretty tough,” he admitted. “They weren’t so bad for the first three hours, but when that cool front came through everything changed and the course started playing very differently.
“When we teed off the second hole, which was our 11th hole for the day, I hit five a wood off the tee downwind, and then for my second shot I hit a six iron directly into the wind. So in the space of a couple of minutes the wind had changed direction completely, which made life very tricky.”
American Bill Haas, son of Jay, and overnight leader Charl Schwartzel currently share third place on seven under par, although the South African would have held third outright had his chip for birdie on the last not stopped inches short of the hole.
He said: “Today the wind was pretty gusty, and yesterday it was consistently strong. The temperature also dropped by about 12 degrees, and then it went back up again. The wind’s all over the place and then with the rain as well, it’s very hard. The guys who finished earlier obviously had a bit of an advantage, but all you can do is hang in there.
“It was solid rather than spectacular today. I just had the one hiccup on the 12th hole, where the wind changed on me when my ball was in mid-flight, so I came up way short and ended up making double. Other than that I played pretty well again, if not as well as the first day. But I’m still in a good position and at least I’ve put myself in with a chance, which is what I always look to do.”
Ireland’s Padraig Harrington moved into contention on six under par alongside Denmark’s Søren Hansen, following a four under 68 having finished his day’s work just before the first of two thunderstorm delays.
Harrington’s only 2009 success came in Irish PGA Championship, but he was making no promises about putting that right this weekend.
The Dubliner has dropped to 13th place in the Official World Golf Ranking, with nothing better than a 16th place finish in four starts so far this season.
With that in mind, he said: “I have a tradition – unfortunately for me – that I don’t normally win out of the blue. It’s very rare for me to do that – I normally warm up by getting into contention a few times.
“I’m pretty happy with my scoring, but I made a few mental errors out there and missed a few putts. But I hit enough good shots, and made plenty of birdie chances.”
Harrington’s only dropped shot came after he hooked his drive into the lake on the treacherous 18th, his ninth hole of the day.
Dane Hansen kept alive his hopes of the first prize with a second successive 69 to sit alongside Harrington.
“I’m playing really well,” he said. “I’m hitting a lot of greens and giving myself a lot of chances, and I suppose that’s what it’s all about in this game.”
