Els opens two shot lead

Ernie Els applied the lessons he learned in the first two days of the MCI Classic, shooting a 5-under 66 today to take a two-stroke lead over Steve Lowery.

For two rounds, Els watched his playing partner, Davis Love III, pick apart Harbour Town's narrow fairways and tiny greens on the way to the second-round lead. But Els was the third-round master, outdueling Love as the two were paired again.

Love, who has won four times at Harbour Town, fell apart midway through the round with three straight bogeys. But he had tap-in birdies on the 17th and 18th holes to finish with a 70 and move within three strokes of Els.

"I think I've put the work in and it's time, I guess, for it to pay off," said Els, the two-time U.S. Open champion who has not won since Nissan Open last year. "I feel like my game's a lot closer than it seems."

For a while, it looked like Love was lost on a course that he - well, loves. After matching shots with Els through the first seven holes, Love had a string of bogeys and wayward shots.

He stubbed a chip on the eighth hole for one bogey, needed a drop on the ninth for his second and hit into the water on No. 10 for a third consecutive mistake. Just when it looked like he would make his fourth bogey after hitting a marshall with his tee shot on the 11th hole, Love saved par with a 20-foot putt.

"By then I was just laughing about it. Every time I made a mistake he was picking up shots," said Love, who had only had one bogey and one double bogey the first two rounds. The par at No. 11 "seemed to start me on the right direction again," Love said.

Two of his last swings brought him back into contention. He stuck an 8-iron within a foot on the par-3 17th, then knocked a 7-iron within about the same distance on the 18th hole.

"I got myself back in it," Love said. "But I just got caught behind a guy who was playing so well."

But Els wasn't the only one on the first, mild, breezy day that the seaside resort is famous for. Lowery had a 66. Scott Hoch shot a 64. Larry Mize had a 65, his lowest round here in six years. Chris Perry tied the back nine record of 29 for his 65. Curtis Strange, who played only nine rounds all year, shot a 65.

On Thursday, only 36 of 132 players equaled or broke par 71. Two days later, only 13 of the remaining 72 were over par.

"The main difference was it was just enjoyable. It felt great," said Stewart Cink, whose 66 left him tied four shots back with Hoch, Mize, Notah Begay III and first-round leader Dan Forsman.

Els saw the low scores when warming up and knew "the course was out there for the taking," he said. "But it puts a lot of pressure on you. You know you've got to go out there and perform."

Several players did. There were 27 within eight shots of the lead with conditions expected to be even more favorable Sunday.

"It'll pick up a lot of ground," said Hoch, who had five straight birdies and tied the front-nine mark of 30. "But as far as the leaders, Ernie and Davis have this course pegged."

At least Els did.

He began a stroke behind Love and it looked like the two would tangle for the lead throughout. They matched birdies on No. 2 and Els pulled even two holes later with a 22-foot birdie putt after Love's tee shot on the par-3 came inches away from the water.

Things began to turn for good on the eighth hole when Els cashed in his long birdie putt and Love could not make par.

Els birdied the ninth hole, while Love needed a drop and took bogey.

One more bogey for Love on the 10th turned his dream course - his first victory came here in 1987 and he joined the late Payne Stewart as the only ones with back-to-back wins here - into a nightmare.

"I got in a little funk there," Love said. "But I'll feel a lot more positive about things after the way I finished."

Divots: Vijay Singh, the Masters champion, continued his stress-free tournament at Harbour Town with a 71 and was 10 shots behind Els, the runner-up at Augusta National. ... Brad Fabel's uneven round included a 7 on the par-4 eighth and a 2 on the par-4 13th ... Hoch's 64 was his lowest round since the 1998 Greater Hartford Open. ... The tournament scoring average, which opened at 73.258 on Thursday, dipped to 69.162 on Saturday. ... Els' only bogey came after a photographer snapped a picture as he stood over a 3-foot putt on the third hole. Els called the shooter over and spoke to him for several minutes. "I kind of coached him through it a little bit," Els said. "He got better after that."

Email this page to a friend | Return to top of page