Els climbs back up leaderboard
Ernie Els steered himself away from am embarrassing early exit by going to the turn in a three-under-par 33 on the second day of the Qatar Masters in Doha today.
Els, joint 81st after an opening 73 – the worst score of the year so far by the South African – climbed to two under par thanks to four birdies.
When Els had his fifth birdie of the day on the par five first - a hole he took six on yesterday - he was up to joint 15th, a leap of 66 places on the round already.
He was also only three behind leader Pierre Fulke, being joined on six under by Lane and Atwal.
Els has not missed a European tour cut since the 1999 German Masters, where he was disqualified for not completing the final hole after hitting two balls into water.
His "cut" streak of 58 tournaments since then is the second longest in tour history behind Bernhard Langer’s 69 between 1991 and 1996 and to extend it further Els had to climb into the leading 70 by the close of today’s play.
Having had to wait until the 18th for his first birdie yesterday the world number three wasted no time this morning before he began his move through the field and into a position not only of safety, but also to challenge for a second successive title following his win in Dubai on Sunday.
At the long 10th – his first – he chipped to two feet and then, after a poor drive and not much better second on the next Els holed a curling 60-foot putt.
Fulke was in the first group of the day at 6.25am and had the opportunity to build on his one-stroke overnight advantage before the heat built up.
He birdied the first, but then came bogeys on the sixth and long ninth and after picking up further strokes on the 10th and 12th he had another bogey on the next.
It all left the former Ryder Cup Swede on six under again and one ahead of a group of five – England’s Barry Lane, Frenchman Gregory Havret, India’s Arjun Atwal and two players yet to tee off again, Australian Richard Green and Swede Henrik Stenson.
Atwal’s performance was remarkable because he returned to the course to find his driver and putter missing from his bag. He had to borrow replacements and matched Els’ 33 for the back nine.
Welshman Garry Houston, joint second overnight after a 67, bogeyed the second and remained four under after five.
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