Els drives clear with game of two halves

Ernie Els, with an astonishing display of virtuosity, played nine holes of the Lake Karrinyup course yesterday in a seven-under-par 29 for the second successive day.

It gave him a second-round 65 to add to his first of 64, a 15-under-par total of 129, and a lead of four strokes over Australia's Robert Allenby and Nottinghamshire's Greg Owen with 36 holes to be played.

But it had been a curate's egg of a day for Els. There was nothing but perspiration for the front nine; nothing but inspiration thereafter.

For instance, after holing out at the par-five 3rd, having taken six, Els stood still for several long seconds, head bowed. He had just played an easy hole in abject fashion, something not seen too much in his glorious season so far, and he appeared to be struggling to understand what had happened. A bogey? What's that?

But it had been very simple. His second shot had been hit thin and instead of being faded, was drawn, and instead of finding the green found the lake on the left. Not only that, it did so by 10 yards and Els had to trudge to a drop zone, from whence he hit a reasonable shot to 10 feet. The par putt, though, was tentative and it dribbled away on the low, or amateur, side.

It was a mistake that meant he was "only" 78 under par for the 309 holes he had played in 2003 and the assumption was that Els being Els, he would now be galvanised into action.

It did not happen. The South African, for the first time this year, succeeded in looking ordinary and when he reached the turn in a level-par 36 he was three behind Allenby and Owen, both of whom had finished. He failed to birdie the drivable par-four 10th, he failed to eagle the long 11th after hitting two magnificent shots to eight feet and it began to look like one of those inexplicable days when the game refuses to acknowledge even the great practitioners.

"When I walked off that green," said Els later, "I said to my caddie that I was going to stop trying a couple of new things that I'd been working on and close my eyes and just hit the ball. I said: 'The harder I'm trying the less is happening.'"

The effect was instant. Whether or not Els hit the tee shot at the short 12th with his eyes shut, the result was an eye-opener. The ball grazed the rim of the hole, stopped six inches away and was duly tapped in for a birdie. It signalled the start of a revival that carried him into a clear lead and gives him the chance to win his fifth event of the past six in which he has played.

A large part of the reason for his stellar season is the immense distance Els is obtaining off the tee. He is using the new Titleist driver and a new ball, the ProV1*, from the same manufacturer, and such is the combined effect that some of the players contracted to other manufacturers are beginning to mutter about unfair advantages.

Els himself admits to around 12 extra yards because of the driver and, as his driving average this year is around the 320-yard mark compared with 297 yards for 2002, that means the ball is responsible for the other 11 yards.

Those figures represent a massive leap in performance, something that should and will concern the Royal and Ancient and the United States Golf Association, especially as Titleist's rivals are said to be on the verge of producing similar weapons.

As Els said yesterday: "Some of the older courses like, say, Royal Melbourne, are in danger of being out-dated. I can play there and only have to use my driver on the par fives."

Justin Rose had a second-round 69 to go with his opener of 68 to be joint sixth but seven behind Els. The cut fell at one under par, which excluded Adam Scott, Sergio Garcia and Lee Westwood, all of them by a single shot.