PGA CHAMPIONSHIP RELATED STORIES PGA Championship Home Page PGA Championship Preview Round 1: Karlsson & Singh top leaderboard Round 1: Ernie Els recovers to stay in contention Round 1: Westwood unhappy with course set up Round 1: Sergio Garcia happy despite poor driving Round 2: JB Holmes edges ahead at half way Round 2: Montgomerie slumps to worst round Round 2: Michael Campbell shows a return to form Round 2: Phil Mickelson warns leaders Round 3: Rain ruins play on Saturday Round 3: Romero ties course record with a 65 Round 3: Weir rates 2008 majors toughest yet Round 3: Oakland Hills leaves Azinger with puzzle Round 4: Harrington lifts his third major title Round 4: Garcia loses out to Harrington again Round 4: Curtis misses PGA but makes Ryder Cup Round 4: Mickelson fails to plug the Tiger gap Course Guide: Oakland Hills PGA Championship Scores PGA could be toughest test of the year Sergio Garcia still searching for first major US Ryder Cup qualifying ends this week Par 3's key at Oakland Hills Players eager for PGA Championship Europeans positive about Oakland Hills Steve Stricker has eye on Ryder Cup place Phil Mickelson trying to make year a good one Trevor Immelman trying to find consistency John Daly still a fan favourite Lee Westwood hoping for a breakthrough Memorable quotes about the PGA Championship 2008 PGA Tour Schedule GOLF TODAY TOP STORIES Fred Couples to enlist some unusual help Paula Creamer seeking another home town win Jay Haas on brink of another senior money title Justin Leonard looking to break Texas Open record Father & Son event sign up with Sky Sports GREAT GIFTS FOR GOLFERS The Pocket Golf Professional Golf Breaks to Portugal & Ireland Half Price Golf Vouchers The Father & Son Golf Ch'ship Best Value Golf Insurance

Ernie Els recovers to stay in contention

Ernie Els may have become golf’s forgotten man, but he hasn’t completely forgotten how to play.

Els, who hasn’t contended down the stretch in the three majors completed this year, finally made a good start, a 1-over-par 71 in the opening round at the PGA Championship on Thursday.

It’s way too early to suggest he will follow it up over the next 54 holes, but the signs were good for the 38-year-old South African, who recovered from a double-bogey at the par-4 14th to finish in style with a birdie at the difficult par-3 17th.

Els almost birdied the par-4 18th too after a fine approach shot, but a 12-foot birdie putt slipped by the cup, leaving him three strokes from the lead.

“I made a big blunder on 14,” admitted the three-time major champion. “You never want to make a double-bogey in a major, especially after a rain delay, but at least I had a very good finish and I’m still in it.”

Els described the course as a “real beast” and lamented that the rough just off the fairway is often the thickest.

The United States Golf Association, which runs the U.S. Open, in recent years has unveiled graduated rough that gets longer as it gets further from the fairway.

This, in theory at least, invokes a greater penalty on very wide shots, rather than those that merely trickle off the fairway.

However, the PGA of America does not seem to have bought into the USGA’s policy, judging by the way it has set up the course here.

“If you’re going to miss it, you might as well miss it a long way,” Els said. “You can miss it by just a couple of yards and you’ve got no shot out of that rough.

“Conditions were really tough. The breeze was blowing, the fairways were firm and it was really tough to keep the ball in play on the fairways.”