GOLF:For a man with a footprint as big a Yeti and a swing on loan from the gods, Ernie Els has made little impression on the circuit for the past few months. But he looked more like the player he used to be rather than the player he has become yesterday as he moved into contention at the Scottish Open with a five-under-par 66 in the second round.
It was by no means a vintage performance from the big South African, not least because it included a couple of slack bogeys. It also included one of the flukier pars he is ever likely to make after he hit his tee-shot on the 12th hole in what a golfer would describe as tall rough but a botanist would call jungle.
"I didn't think I was going to find it, but, when I did, I found I could take a swing, so I did. It was a case of hit and hope, but I have been a good boy this week, so I got it out," he grinned.
He later walked off the final green after making a birdie, reducing his overnight deficit on the tournament leaders to three shots.
That was heartening enough, but even more encouraging were the names of those above him on the leaderboard; Gregory Havret and Jose Manuel Lara, joint leaders with a two-round total of 132, 10 under par, are European Tour players but will not frighten a world-class player such as Els.
Phil Mickelson, on the other hand, would scare the life out of anyone, especially on this form. The American left-hander has traditionally used his visit to the Bonny Banks as warm-up, albeit an incongruous one, for the British Open. But this year he is wearing the face of a man with serious intent. He is also playing like one.
He shot a six-under-par 65 to tie for the first-round lead, and yesterday added a 68 to move to nine under and head into the weekend as the pre-emptive favourite.
The tournament organisers would never admit it, but as they slept last night their dreams will have danced with images of Els and Mickelson walking down the fairways together in tomorrow's final group.
No one would deny them such fantasies, although there are plenty of players near the top of the leaderboard capable of bringing them to an abrupt halt, not least Havret.
The Frenchman arrived in Scotland in a rich seam of form. He finished third in the European Open at The K Club last week and has recently hooked up with the ubiquitous "mind guru" Jos Vanstiphout, whose record in turning golfing Clark Kents into golfing Supermen is uncanny.
Havret also has the additional motivation of requiring a victory here to guarantee his place in the British Open next week. And, of course, Carnoustie could do with a new Frenchman in the field now that the most famous French golfer of them all, Jean Van de Velde, will not be there.
"The last time at Carnoustie I watched the end of the tournament with some friends in France. We watched all day long and I was just crying at the end," Havret recalled wistfully. "It was very hard for Jean, but people forget how well he played for 71 holes."
They do forget, but golf is nothing if not capricious; one week you are a champ, the next a chump. Just ask Colin Montgomerie.
The Scotsman, winner of Sunday's European Open, turned up at Loch Lomond garlanded in smiles and departed last night with a face like a man who had downed a carton of sour milk.
"It's a putting competition out there and I didn't putt well," he said after shooting a three-over-par 74 to miss the cut.
See also Pages 6 and 7 Guardian Service
Scoreboard
132 (10 under)
G Havret (Fra) 68 64
JM Lara (Spa) 67 65
133 (9 under)
P Mickelson (US) 65 68
134 (8 under)
S Khan (Eng) 67 67
A Romero (Arg) 67 67
B Weekley (US) 68 66
135 (7 under)
P Edberg (Swe) 67 68
E Els (Rsa) 69 66
M Tunnicliff (Eng) 68 67
S Webster (Eng) 68 67
136 (6 under)
P Archer (Eng) 68 68
A Canete (Arg) 68 68
S Garcia (Spa) 71 65
M Ilonen (Fin) 66 70
I Poulter (Eng) 69 67
S Walker (Eng) 67 69
