Els, chasing a fifth win in six tournaments, followed up his opening round of 64 with a 65 on Friday to lead at the Lake Karrinyup Country Club on 15-under-par, four shots clear of Greg Owen and number one Australian Robert Allenby.

It looked at one stage as if the pair might hold on to the clubhouse lead they had set as Els, feeling uncomfortable, tried to work on his swing.

He pulled his third shot on the fifth into the water for a bogey and only managed to win the shot back on the seventh with a putt from 20 feet.

But it was the birdie on 11th, after Els had missed an eight foot putt for eagle, that proved the turning point as he decided, in his own words, to “close my eyes, aim at it and hit it.”

The 11th began an incredible run of four consecutive birdies and his second eagle of the week on the 15th. Els finished his Jekyll and Hyde round with a 33 foot putt for another birdie on the last.

“I made some really poor shots on the front nine, especially my second shot on the third hole,” he said.

“I was not feeling all that comfortable with my swing. I was working on a couple of things. The harder we tried, the less was happening for us.

“Walking off that (11th) green I said I was going to close my eyes, aim at it and hit it. As I started feeling my rhythm I started making some putts. You are not always going to play the way you want. You have to accept it and let it happen.”

Allenby is only four shots back but he believes Els will win in Perth this week and that not even Tiger Woods could stop him.

“He is the man to beat at the moment,” said Allenby after his 65. “It would not matter if Tiger was playing, I think Ernie would still win the tournament. He is just playing awesome.”

Els was not interested in the hypotheticals – the test will come at the World Matchplay.

The 33-year-old is simply intent on extending his remarkable run of form that yielded two victories in Hawaii and a win at the Heineken Classic to earn him the golfer of the month title for January.

Els said: “He (Woods) is number one in the world and his record speaks for itself. I am just trying to play better.”

Owen, who has finished in the top 40 of the European Order of Merit for the last four years, remains without a tournament victory.

Indeed, his albatross and brief stint in leading the 2001 Open remains his greatest achievement but he has taken the pressure off himself.

“All I’m going to do is the right things and if I work hard, practice hard and train hard, I’ll leave it in the lap of the gods as to what happens,” he said.

The moment of the day came from Singapore’s Mardan Mamat, who scored the first hole-in-one of the tournament with his five on the 219-yard par-three eighth.

It was a feat almost matched by Els, whose drive onto the 12th stopped just inches form the cup.

The disappointment of the opening two rounds was Sergio Garcia, who bogeyed the last to finish on even par and missed the cut by one shot.

The Spaniard had not looked comfortable in Perth since his spat with journalists on Tuesday and after tweaking a hamstring was a doubtful starter.

Garcia finished third last year, but could only manage a two-under 70 on Friday, and it wasn’t enough.

“I made a couple of stupid bogeys on the back nine and you can’t afford to do that,” he said. “Pity.”

Still, he did better than Denmark’s Soren Hansen who was disqualified from the tournament after failing to turn up for his 9am tee-off. He had shot a five over 77 in his first round.

Stephen Leaney bogeyed the last – his first of the tournament – to finish the day on nine-under-par tied for fourth with France’s Jean-Francois Remesy.

Australia’s Andre Stolz was alone on eight-under, defending champion Retief Goosen a shot back after a seven-under-par 65.

Goosen began the day on level par, but was still disappointed with his showing. He felt the course record was up for grabs.

“That was the worst I could have scored,” said the South African who equalled the record of 63 last year. “I felt like a 62 was definitely on.”