Ernie Els backed up his successive rounds of 68 with a third-round two-under-par 70 in the PGA Tour Champions’ Regions Tradition in Birmingham, Alabama for a tournament total of 10-under-par while trailing by seven going into the final round.
It was American Steve Stricker who occupied the top spot after 54 holes in Alabama, thanks to a third round of six-under-par 66 which took his tournament total to 17-under after opening rounds of 65 and 68.
Els, whose opening two rounds were as solid as many have come to expect from the man popularly known as The Big Easy, needed an inspired round to remain within a reasonable distance of Stricker’s lead.
His start to the third round didn’t look all too promising as Els made a bogey on the first. Two pars later, Els made another drop and after the par he made on five, two more drops followed. Finally, something looked like it was working in Els’ favour as the South African legend found a birdie on eight. He was happy to walk away with a par on the ninth while trying to put an indifferent front nine behind him as soon as possible.
The par on nine proved to be the first of four pars on the trot as Els worked to salvage what looked like a laboured round from the four-time major winner.
A turn-around in fortunes saw Els finding a game-changing eagle on the 13th before following that up with a birdie on 14. Further gains on 16 were followed by another birdie on the 18th as the South African found something special on the homeward stretch.
Now, lying in a share of sixth and seven shots behind, Els will have found some confidence after his performance on the back nine in the third round. With his experience, he will know that while the seven-shot lead held by the American may seem unassailable, anything is possible in golf, and that the best he can do now is to play some of his best golf in the final round and hope Stricker and company will falter.
Either way, it’s been a good week for Els and it could get even better if he can replicate that back nine golf he played in round three.
