With three tournaments to go ahead of the Charles Schwab Cup Championship on the PGA Tour Champions, Ernie Els opened the SAS Championship with a two-under-par 70 on Friday and kept his chances of topping the table well and truly alive.
While his four birdies and two bogeys left him down in a share of 21st, he was just five strokes off the lead which was held by Billy Andrade of the United States. Andrade’s seven-under 65 put him one stroke clear of Padraig Harrington, with two players in third on five-under, three on four-under, and 13 players just one shot ahead of Els on three-under.
On a crowded leaderboard, six others share 21st with Els, and there were 13 players on one-under-par in a share of 28th.
David Frost opened with a two-over-par 74 for a share of 57th.
