Ernie Els closes on leaders with 67

Ernie Els did exactly what he needed to do in Friday's second round of the U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills, refuse to panic.

The twice former champion shot a three-under-par 67, which included four successive birdies early in the round, to move from 20th to sixth place at three-under, three strokes off the lead held by American Phil Mickelson and Japan's Shigeki Maruyama.

"I just kept going, kept plugging away," Els told reporters. "Today I felt good."

The South African was three-over after his opening three holes on Thursday but scrambled his way to a level-par 70.

After hitting only seven fairways and taking 28 putts in the first round, Els needed to be straighter off the tee and make fewer putts to get close to the leaders on Friday.

He put together a string of nine one-putt greens in a row, all for pars except for his four consecutive birdies from the fifth to the eighth.

Els surged to four-under and near the top of the leaderboard, but a bogey on the 14th dropped him back into a tie for sixth place at the end of the round.

"That got me right back into it," Els said of his four-birdie burst. "And I couldn't quite get it going on the back nine again.

"But I'm obviously thrilled to be where I am after my start. I think I'm playing at a level from where I feel like I can win," said Els, who lifted the U.S. Open title in 1994 and 1997.

"You just want to give yourself a chance, like I did in April."

He was referring to his surge on the final nine holes at the U.S. Masters that briefly propelled him into a tie for the lead with Mickelson, who eventually went on to take the coveted Green Jacket.