Els secures lead after golden eagle

Ernie Els made an eagle two on the 17th hole to grab the lead in emphatic fashion at the end of the second round of the Nedbank Golf Challenge at Sun City, finishing with a seven-under-par 65 to lead by a shot from the overnight frontrunner Chris DiMarco and by three from Darren Clarke.

Els' eagle followed a birdie at the previous hole and he said: "I've never played those two holes in four shots before". His nine iron from 153 metres at 17 flew straight into the cup and drew a huge roar from the partisan galleries. "That was my shot of the year," he said.

The last time the hole yielded a two was in 1987 when Ian Woosnam concluded his annus mirabilis by winning this tournament the first time that the first-prize money had been set at $1m.

If it had not been for the shot at 17, however, Els would have looked at his second at the par-five 14th as the most significant of the day. The hole measures 550m and with a treacherous bunker guarding the front of the green none of the field had even contemplated going for it in two.

Els smashed a driver over 300m and then hit a three wood 245m off a downhill lie. It carried the bunker by a foot and rolled to the back of the green, from where he two-putted for a birdie four. Thereafter Els covered the last five holes in four under par to be home in 32.

Like Els, DiMarco also birdied the four par-five holes and, without a bogey on his card, he led the tournament for much of the day. Twelve years ago DiMarco played on the South African Sunshine Tour and carried his own bag in practice to avoid paying a caddy fee. "But I guess it's a lot nicer playing for $2m than it was for 200,000 Rand," he said.

The 34-year-old New Yorker has climbed up the world rankings to No11 in two years of conspicuous success thanks to the unorthodox "claw grip" putting method. With the greens running fast at the start of the day, officials were obliged to water them to keep them playable, but DiMarco rolled in putts from everywhere and said: "The faster the better for me".

Following a disappointing level-par return on the first day a 67 kept Darren Clarke in the hunt. A fast finish that saw him card three threes in the final four holes spurred him on and he said: "Any time you shoot 67 around Sun City it's a good effort. I only had two bad swings all day and I'm very pleased".

Colin Montgomerie also pulled his socks up after an opening 74, but there was plenty of drama in his three-under-par 69. At the par-five 9th he hit a bad drive and could not advance his second shot far enough for a comfortable hit to an island green. He duly dumped a two iron in the water and walked off with a double-bogey seven.

But Montgomerie put his troubles behind him and came home with a bogey-free 33 to leave himself one under for the tournament, the same score as defending champion Sergio Garcia who had a one-over 73.