Ernie Els climbed nine places on the leaderboard on Friday in the second round of the US Senior Open Championship into a share of 13th with a one-under-par 70.
That took him to level-par for the tournament, and put him five shots behind the leader, Padraig Harrington of Ireland. Harrington’s six-under 65 took him to a one-shot lead over Steve Stricker, with Rob Labritz in third on four-under.
Els shared 13th with eight other players, including Retief Goosen, who had a second successive level-par 71.
James Kingston had a five-under 76 to slip to a share of 54th on five-over-par. He made the cut on the number.
Harrington who turned 50 last August, is playing his first US Senior Open and still has plenty of speed in his swing to handle the thick rough still wet from Thursday’s rain.
He kept bogeys off his card even when he strayed from the fairway, and he broke out of a tie with Stricker with a wedge to four feet on the par-four eighth hole toward the end of his round.
“It’s a much stronger test than I expected. This is way, way tougher than our regular PGA Tour Champions events,” Harrington said. “I knew this was a big advantage to me starting the week, both length-wise and being able to play from the rough if I am in the rough.”
