Ernie Els is refusing to give up hope of victory after a tough second day at the Ballantine’s Championship in Korea on Friday.
The South African superstar battled his way to a two-over-par 74 in cold and windy conditions at Pinx Golf Club on the island of Jeju. That left him on two-under 142 for the tournament, seven shots behind leader Robert-Jan Derksen of the Netherlands.
“I had a tough time out there today,” said Els. “Cold, windy, it was a good test of golf. It feels like we’re back in Scotland! I was just horrible on the greens today. I left about four or five shots out there on the greens. It was difficult keeping your balance, basically.”
“The greens are difficult to read. The course is up against the mountain and everything kind of slopes towards the bay down there and then they’ve got the greens tilted the other way.”
“So, yes, it’s difficult to read the greens, and I’ve been having problems.”
Els, the main draw card at the €2.1 million Ballantine’s Championship, had been ideally placed after an opening round 68 that was made in glorious sunshine and calm conditions. But Jeju’s famous winds were blowing on Friday and scoring suffered as a result.
Els, starting on the back nine, began well with a birdie on the par-five 10th but struggled after that, dropping four shots in 10 holes before a birdie on the par-three fifth halted his slide. He dropped another shot on No.7 but bounced back with a birdie at the next to leave himself in with a chance heading into the weekend.
The three-time Major winner admitted he would have his work cut out. “We had a good day yesterday but we knew the weather was coming. I don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow; maybe we’ll have another good day, who knows? Hopefully I can start grinding something out.”
Despite his struggles in the second round, Els said he was delighted to be in Korea and helping promote the game via the Ballantine’s Championship, which is once again co-sanctioned by the European and Asian Tours and Korea PGA.
The South African is one of the world’s truly global golfers with more than 50 victories worldwide including three Majors, the US Open in 1994 and 1997 and the British Open in 2002 and an astonishing seven World Match Play Championship titles.
He is also a two-time winner of theEuropean Tour Order of Merit and has 16 victories on the US PGA Tour.
“Golf in Korea is really big,” he said. “There are a lot of good players coming out of this country and they have got some great golf courses, so it’s good to be here. This is a big event. We’ve got a great sponsor, good television coverage and some excellent international players here, so this is a big deal for Korean golf.”
“This gives them a really good measuring stick to see where they’re at.
Ernie Els waits on the 17th tee during the second round of the Ballantine’s Championship at Pinx Golf Club in Jeju, Korea, on Friday. Els battled through windy conditions to card a two-over-par 74. (Paul Lakatos/Parallel Media Group)
