He awarded himself seven out of ten for his opening 67 but Friday saw Ernie Els notch up a perfect ten at the Tomson Shanghai Pudong Golf Club as a scintillating ten under par 62 gave the World Number Three a commanding lead at the halfway stage of the BMW Asian Open.
The winner of The European Tour Order of Merit in the past two seasons was fantastic and flawless around the testing Shanghai layout, notching eight birdies in total. But he saved the best for last, firing a superb four iron second at the 570 yard ninth hole to within eight inches of the cup for a tap-in-eagle three.
It was comfortably the best score ever posted at the Tomson Shanghai Pudong Golf Club, the only downside for Els being the fact that, with preferred lies in operation, it did not count as an official course record.
But, the fact his 15 under par total of 129 gave him a four shot lead over his nearest pursuer – the unheralded New Zealander Eddie Lee – with the next challenger – Frenchman Raphaël Jacquelin – a further shot behind Lee, was compensation enough as The Big Easy moved within sight of his 21st European Tour title and his third of 2005 having already completed back-to-back wins in Dubai and Qatar in March.
“It was really good today,” he said. “I got fortunate here and there but overall I felt like I kept it in play and made more putts obviously, because whenever you shoot 62 you make a lot of putts. But I felt comfortable with my swing and it was just one of those nice days when you want to keep going.
“The ninth was a great way to finish too. I hit my drive a little bit right but I was very fortunate and good a good lie in the rough and I had to hook my second shot a little bit. I hit a four iron and it was one of those shots which just came up perfect, it bounced over the bunker and ran up there and left me one of the nicest things in golf – a tap-in for eagle. The putt was about eight inches long – even I can make those!
“I kept looking at the shot in the air and then when it bounced I was down on my knees. I was watching it all the way and it was looking good all the way so I kind of had an idea especially when Ricci said the flag was only seven on. I saw the ball just trickle up to the front of the green and when I walked up, I saw where it had finished. It was a nice shot.”
By no means was it in isolation either as Els peppered his card with memorable shots, especially in a sensational run in the 11 holes from the 13th to the fifth where he notched eight birdies with putts ranging in length from three to 38 feet.
All of which gave perfect vindication for the slight posture and swing changes that Els has been working on in recent weeks and which he admitted were finally beginning to click into place.
“A. I’ll tell you one thing, where I was last week both mentally and physically with the technical swing stuff, I have made a total about turn,” he said. “I didn’t have a lot of confidence and I was still looking for a swing last week and the changes I was making were feeling very uncomfortable.
“But that is the game, you keep working on things and all of a sudden it changes. You have just got to keep working, have a good attitude and just work through it. I am a little surprised it came this quickly, but I am happy.”
While the leader is a recognised name around the globe, almost the opposite is the case with his nearest challenger – the Korean born New Zealander Lee – in the co-sanctioned event between The European Tour and the Asian Tour, the 31 year old being a regular on the latter.
Lee’s consistency – which saw him miss only four cuts from 16 events on the Asian circuit in 2004 – surfaced again as he was flawless in his second round 66, meaning he has only dropped one shot in 36 holes – at the 17th in his opening 67.
“I actually hit it well on the front nine but had a couple of bad shots on the back,” he said. “But my short game was good today and I’m happy with my putting and my chipping. Actually, I just happy with the way I am playing overall.”
Lee will partner Els in Saturday’s third round and admitted it was a prospect he was relishing. “Ernie is a guy I look up to and he is one of my favourite players,” he said. “It will be great to play beside him.”
One shot behind was Jacquelin, looking for his maiden European Tour success, who added his second consecutive 67 for a ten under par total of 134, helped by a superb putt on the 18th green, hit with perfect pace from 15 feet so that the ball dropped straight into the centre of the cup.
“That was very nice today, I am very pleased with my game,” he said. “I played better than yesterday and hit the ball better than yesterday. I put the ball a lot more in play with my driver and my putting was still there.
“I played the back nine well again, six under yesterday and four under today so I will see what I can do tomorrow and try not to let Ernie get too far away. When he is on fire like today there is nothing you can do. You have just got to try to keep in touch and five shots behind is not too far, we’ll see, I’ll try my best anyway.”
After Lee and Jacquelin, Els’s next four challengers on eight under par 136 were Denmark’s Thomas Björn (65), the French duo of Jean-Francois Lucquin (66) and Jean Van de Velde (69) and Simon Wakefield of England (69).
“I am very happy with my round especially because I didn’t get the best of starts,” said Björn. “My last 12 holes (where he made his seven birdies) were very good, but I didn’t expect to lose three shots on Ernie after a 65.
“It is nice to be in the clubhouse knowing that you are in with a shout for the weekend but when he (Els) plays like that, he is a difficult man to catch. I need to shoot two 64s I guess, that is what I am looking at now, so we will see what happens.”
Another happy man was Van de Velde who continued his rehabilitation from a leg injury which ruled him out of the second half of last season, in fine style, carding five birdies in total in his 69 which included an audacious putt of some 45 feet for a birdie three at the sixth.
“I do a lot of stretching before and after play, I swim a lot and I also lost a bit of weight so that helps the pressure on my knee,” he said. “But I think now the fact that I can practice and play competitive tournament rounds is a very good sign.”
Not so pleased was Wakefield had a birdie chance on the last to make it a 68 but the ball slid past the edge of the cup, a stroke which perfectly summed up his day that promised much but did not quite deliver to the standard he was hoping for.
“I’m a bit disappointed really, I felt like I didn’t play as well as I did yesterday,” he said. “I made a couple of silly mistakes, certainly one at the last, but overall I am quite happy with the position I’m in. At the end of the day, three under is okay, I would have taken that at the start.”
