THE OPEN RELATED STORIES The Open Home Page The Open Scores Round 4: Tiger Woods seals two shot victory Round 4: Emotional Tiger Woods thanks late father Round 4: Players give Hoylake top marks Round 4: Ernie Els continues impressive Open run Round 4: Marius Thorp wins Silver Medal Round 4: Sergio Garcia takes positives from Open Round 4: Chris DiMarco consoled by second place Round 4: Tiger Woods edges ahead of field Round 3: Sergio Garcia in sight of first major title Round 3: Ernie Els happy to still be in the mix Round 3: Putting problems keep Woods back Round 3: Chris DiMarco counts on experience Round 2: Woods and Els set for showdown Round 2: Singh & Monty amongst cut casualties Round 2: Ernie Els relishes being in contention Round 2: David Duval frustrated again Round 2: Phil Mickelson well off the pace Round 2: Poor showing by Ryder Cup hopefuls Round 1: Woods makes move with eagle on 18th Round 1: Clarke to take break to care for wife Round 1: Seve Ballesteros happy with opening 74 Round 1: Ernie Els finds putting touch again Round 1: Garcia amongst early front runners Leading contenders for the British Open Tiger Woods ready for Open defence Geoff Ogilvy enjoying life as a champion Weather set fair at Hoylake Phil Mickelson in confident mood Tiger Woods & Nick Faldo fued simmers Trevor Immelman pulls out of Open Players expecting to score low at Hoylake Ben Curtis has sights on second Open title Montgomerie still optimistic about breaking duck Rest of the World catching the Americans Hoylake ready for a new chapter Europeans seeking a Major turnaround Trevor Immelman celebrates birth of first child Tiger Woods is bookmakers favourite Hot, dry and fast Hoylake awaits players Nick Faldo & Tiger Woods row diffused Hoylake a mystery to the whole field John Daly plays "The Cavern" Retief Goosen not confident heading into Open John Senden joins record number of Australians Woods starts Open defence with Faldo The Open Preview Course Guide: Hoylake - Royal Liverpool 2006 European Tour Schedule GOLF TODAY TOP STORIES Colin Montgomerie plays down Ryder Cup talk Top players absent from Tigers' event Opportunities abound without Tiger playing Olazabal & Clarke miss out on Open Kenny Perry moves back in to World Top 20 Tiger Woods unsure of when he'll return GREAT GIFTS FOR GOLFERS Golf Breaks to Portugal & Ireland Half Price Golf Vouchers InstructaCard - your portable pro! The Father & Son Golf Ch'ship Golf Insurance

Ernie Els finds putting touch again

Ernie Els shrugged off an opening three-putt bogey on Thursday to sit just a stroke off Briton Greg Owen's lead with a four-under 68 in the British Open first round.

Els's putting has been his Achilles heel for several months but the tall South African generally had a good time on the greens after following up on his opening blemish by holing two 20ft birdie putts at the second and third.

Although he threw in another three-putt, he was happy with his performance. Since coming back from a knee operation last summer, putting has been his only disappointment.

Appointments with mind coach Bob Rotella, who has helped him go back to his former putting style, seem to have done the trick.

"I felt more comfortable and the strike on the ball feels solid," Els told reporters.

"My speed feels okay on the putts and I've been reading them quite nicely.

"I've been speaking to Bob Rotella a little bit, the last couple of weeks and taking his advice, trying to putt the way I used to putt way back, just trying to get a little different mindset on the putts.

"And some of my best rounds have come when I bogeyed the first hole. I tell myself that all the way round."