Ernie Els is once again in contention at the Masters. It just might not feel that way.
The long, tall South African, affectionately known as the Big Easy for his effortless swing on the laid-back demeanor off of it, is in third heading into Saturday’s third round. It just so happens that he trails the young phenom Jordan Spieth by half a golf course. Els’ score of 5-under-par 139 trails Spieth by nine strokes.
“It’s a long, long way from being finished,” Els claimed after his even-par round of 72 Friday. “ A lot of work to be done still, so we’ll see. But (Spieth has been) very, very impressive.”
It’s the time the 45-year-old has been in contention at Augusta National since he had two second-place finishes and five straight top sixes from 2000-2004. He finished in a tie for 13th in 2013.
Here are some of Els’ comments after Friday’s round:
On his second round, which included two 3-putts and four bogeys …
“I feel like I hit the ball quite well. And all in all I missed two fairways and I had no chance to up and down on 7. I short sided myself. … I three putted on 10 and I left a shortish one on 11. So that’s the four mistakes I made, and I paid for it. But I felt like I played well. I hit the ball well, kept my patience up.”
On whether there’s a chance anybody but Spieth might win …
“He’s doing unbelievably well. So obviously you’re watching the leaderboard. … There’s also been real good comebacks. It’s not over. Big weekend ahead, a lot of golf to be played.”
On what it will take to win …
“Well, last week I shot two 67s, let’s see where that takes me. That’s about as good as a man can do. I don’t want to wish anything bad, but if he takes his foot off the gas it gives you a bit of hope of catching him. But I would love two 67’s. Well, you better get breaks, obviously. Get a break here and there. But if you have one game plan you’ve got to stick to the game plan. In saying that, when things go haywire, you’ve got to adapt very quickly.”
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