Ernie Els changed putters and the result was a seven-shot improvement to move into contention at the PGA TOUR Champions’ season-opening Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai.
The Big Easy admitted to feeling like a newbie in round one where he fired an opening 72. That left him with plenty to do in the three-round event and he responded in fine style.
He birdied four of the first six holes and eagled the par-five 7th. He bogeyed the par-four 9th and added birdies on Nos 12 and 13 to sit four back of Woody Austin.
Profilic Champions Tour winner Bernhard Langer is second on -10.
‘I just felt a bit more comfortable,’ said Els, the four-time Major winner from South Africa who turned 50 in October.
‘Believe it or not, after all these years, I felt like a rookie yesterday and I felt a little out of place.’
Getting a better roll on the greens helped, too.
‘I left everything short and didn’t quite get it to the hole yesterday, so it was a little better,’ Els said.
