Ernie Els fires a 29 to take the second position at the World Golf Championships – HSBC Champions
The British Open champion Ernie Els overcame his injury issue, to shoot a nine-under par 63, in the second round of the World Golf Championships – HSBC Champions.
The HSBC Champions is being played at the Olazabal Course at the Mission Hills Golf Club, and the event is co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour, European Tour and the PGA Tour.
Furthermore, the US$7 million event is the last of the four WGCs of the season and is the only one that is held outside the United States.
Els entered the tournament with sore ankle and even struggled with his swing during the practice round.
Two weeks ago, he twisted his ankle during a tennis match. As a result, he also announced his withdrawal from the PGA Grand Slam of Golf.
"It swells up and it comes down a little bit," he said. "It's a little painful but I can hit it and I can walk, so I take Advil and some Celebrex (both anti-inflammatories) and I've got a strap (on it)”.
However, his game in the first two rounds did not give a single hint of his suffering. Through the first 36 holes of the tournament, he did not concede a single bogey.
Moreover, his performance on the front nine of the course during day two was phenomenal.
He birdied seven of the first nine holes to post a 29 on his scorecard. It was the lowest ever front nine score recorded by any player in the history of the PGA Tour sanctioned event.
After performing so well on the front nine, he started thinking about scoring a 59, which no one else has ever registered in the history of the PGA Tour.
However, he failed to keep the momentum going and missed some birdie opportunities. At the end of the day, he found himself settled for an 11-under par overall score to share the second position.
"That number was crossing my mind," he said. "You know, I just didn't quite make the putts coming in”.
Adam Scott, who shared the lead after the first round, also joined Els following a four-under par 68.
Louis Oosthuizen, in the meantime, retained the lead on day two, after posting a 16-under par two-round score.
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