Ernie Els shows return form

Ernie Els finally found his touch to shoot a five-under-par 67 and move to within three shots of the lead after the second round of the Dunhill Championship at Leopard Creek Country Club on Friday.

South African compatriot and first-round leader Michiel Bothma added a 71 to his opening 64 to enjoy a one-shot lead.

Els, in the second tournament of his comeback from knee surgery four-and-a-half months ago, shot a 71 in a rusty first round and he took three more holes to find momentum on Friday.

Starting his second round from the 10th tee, he birdied the 13th, 14th and 15th holes and he went on to pick up two more strokes to leave himself with a solid platform from which to launch his campaign for a third Dunhill Championship title.

Bothma welcomed the change in weather on Friday, with cloud cover all day and the temperature not rising above 22C.

"I'm a little under the weather with flu and the cooler weather certainly helped. I really suffered with the heat yesterday morning," he said.

Bothma went out with four birdies, but the next nine holes took 39 strokes as he bogeyed the par-three 12th and picked up a double bogey at the par-five 15th, which the 32-year-old put down to one lapse of concentration.

"I drove it beautifully down the centre of the fairway, but then my friends and I got to talking a little and I lost concentration. I shanked a three-iron shockingly, right into the water. I had no shot and had to chip it back on to the fairway and play it home from there," Bothma said.

Just less than half the field had to complete their first rounds on Friday morning after thundershowers on Thursday, and the golfers were called off the course at 1825 (1725 GMT) on Friday with 21 players still to complete their second rounds.

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