Els facing uphill battle for four-timer
Ernie Els’ bid for a record-equalling fourth straight Heineken Classic title got off to a faltering start today.
Els is aiming to become only the sixth player in the history of official competition to win a tournament four years running, joining the likes of Tiger Woods, Walter Hagen and Gene Sarazen in the record books.
The world number three led from start to finish at Royal Melbourne 12 months ago, opening with a stunning 12-under-par 60, but struggled to a one-over-par 72.
Starting from the 10th after a delay of two and a half hours due to Wednesday’s torrential rain, Els dropped two shots in an outward half of 37 before picking up his first birdie of the day on the par-five second.
The 35-year-old also birdied the fourth and fifth to get into red figures for the first time, but two more bogeys left him seven shots off the pace.
Fellow South African Trevor Immelman, Australian Peter Lonard and England’s Steve Webster shared the lead on six under par, one ahead of Colombia’s rising star Camilo Villegas.
Among the later starters, Colin Montgomerie was three under par after five holes, while playing partner Greg Norman, wearing a microphone to broadcast his thoughts to the television audience, was level par.
Wednesday had been the coldest February day on record in Melbourne and an overnight storm brought down trees and power lines across the city.
A month’s worth of rain fell in 24 hours but the course, on Melbourne’s famous sand-belt, had drained superbly by the time play began shortly before 10am local time.
The rain had thankfully taken some of the sting out of the normally lightning-fast greens and Immelman looked set for a really low score when, starting from the 10th, he raced to the turn in just 29 shots.
Further birdies at the second and fifth took him three clear at eight under but he then ran up a double bogey on the eighth after needing two shots to escape from a greenside bunker.
In the group ahead, Els reached the green in two on the par-five ninth, his closing hole, but three-putted for par and paused only to comment: “It was just one of those days. I never got going.”
Meanwhile, Nick Faldo, playing alongside Immelman, fared even worse with a 78 to lie third last on seven over, the 47-year-old joking: “I was so rusty I should be sponsored by WD-40!”
There had been some good news at least for Faldo overnight with Bernhard Langer announcing he would not be seeking the Ryder Cup captaincy in 2006, leaving Faldo and Ian Woosnam in a head-to-head battle for the role at the K Club.
Montgomerie bogeyed the sixth but hit back with birdies at the seventh and ninth to be out in 32, and another birdie on the 12th took him to within one shot of the lead.
One shot behind was England’s Nick Dougherty, who relegated the Scot to second in last week’s Caltex Masters in Singapore to win his first European Tour title.
