Ernie Els may be rapidly approaching his 50th birthday and a turn on the Champions Tour, but he showed his game is as good as ever on day one at the Maybank Championship.
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The Big Easy nestled into the top 10 on Thursday following his 68 in the sweltering heat that is par for the course at Saujana Golf and Country Club.
The popular South African was joined by countrymen Dean Burmester and Brandon Stone for company in the group sharing seventh place, with Thomas Pieters alone in sixth one stroke better.
Australian Marcus Fraser joined Nacho Elvira at the top of the pile after opening 65s. Both had just a single bogey for the round as they came home in matching 32s to take control of proceedings.
Three players share third, including the Philippine’s Angelo Que, who was left to rue not one, but two back nine double bogeys. His round was eye-catching in that he birdied nine of his first 11 holes before his two costly mistakes at 15 and 16.
A closing birdie was enough to ease some of the pain on a day where the number 59 was on everyone’s lips.
Back to the South African interests, Els closed with two birdies in a row to lay down his marker and show, once again, that he has plenty of fight left at the highest level.
“How to finish your round.” – A video tutorial by @TheBig_Easy #MaybankChampionship pic.twitter.com/YzxOQik4s3
— Compleat Golfer (@CompleatGolfer) March 21, 2019
Burmester was able to join his illustrious countrymen after a bogey-free run into the clubhouse that included four birdies.
A chip-in on the sixth, after starting on the 10th, helped our playing editor into the group three back.
Lovely @BrandonMStone ⤵️ #MaybankChampionship pic.twitter.com/rT4GJBTrjS
— Compleat Golfer (@CompleatGolfer) March 21, 2019
Stone opened with a par, but quickly got going with three gains on the bounce. A double and a single drop followed, but the 25-year-old bounced back with two birdies in his next three holes before a two-under inward nine.
Next best behind the trio of Els, Stone and Burmester is Christiaan Bezuidenhout, who closed with a par on the par-5 18th to open with a 69 on Thursday.
Bezuidenhout continues to trend nicely as he attempts to turn his recent form (second in Qatar, top 10 in Kenya) into a win on the European Tour.
All but four of the dozen South Africans on duty this week were under par for their opening efforts.
Photo: Andrew Redington/Getty Images
