Where had you gone, Mr Els? Yesterday, as if to confirm that class is never lost forever, Ernie Els returned to something like his best. Sure, one swallow doesn't make a summer, but that smooth, languid swing was just as it always was as the South African's renaissance brought him a once-familiar pairing with Tiger Woods in today's third round of the British Open at Royal Liverpool.

Els has had a lean old time of late. Almost 12 months ago, he injured knee ligaments in a water-skiing accident. It prevented him going for a third straight European Tour order of merit title, and although he resurfaced to win the Dunhill championship prior to Christmas, problems with his knee meant much of his golf this season has been played through degrees of pain.

In the previous majors this year, he was no more than a bit player. He finished tied-27th at the US Masters and was tied-26th at the US Open. But he arrived home from Winged Foot believing he had finally turned a corner.

"I felt good, and had a couple of really good weeks at home (in London). I got my drive back, and felt that the injury was something of the past."

Returning from injury is a slow process, and Els' confidence suffered. He drifted from number two in the world rankings down to eighth, and watched as Phil Mickelson learnt how to play the majors and became the biggest challenger to Woods. It wasn't a position Els wanted, or liked. All he could do was continue working on his game and his fitness and wait patiently until his game returned.

Yesterday, he set out on his second round aware that Woods had made huge strides on the field, having posted a 65. Rather than scare Els, it encouraged him.

"I saw the score, and obviously he's a great player, but if he was on 12 under, I knew there were some birdies to be made on the course and I felt I had to get my share of them."

The key, Els felt, was to be patient. "I didn't feel the urge of pushing too much too soon, or trying to hit the perfect shot. My mindset before going out was to play a solid game. I didn't think I was going to shoot 65, but I knew I needed to get something in the 60s."

What Els did was to answer the mark set down by Woods, posting a 65 for 133, 11-under, that left him lurking on the defending champion's shoulder heading into the weekend.

Els performed as of old, going about his business in a seemingly leisurely fashion but with serious intent. He ran up seven birdies, and didn't drop a shot. For the champion of 2002, the display harked back to his best days.

There were to be none of the dramatics of Woods' eagle two on the 14th. Els collected his first birdie on the third, putting his seven-iron approach to two feet. On the fifth, he was greenside in two and pitched to six feet, before ramming in an 18-footer for the third birdie of his round at the sixth.

The secret of scoring at Hoylake is to conquer the par fives, and Els birdied all four: the 10th from 12 feet, and two-putting the 16th and 18th after reaching the putting surface in two. In between, he holed in a 16-footer on the 14th. It was a good day at the office, to be sure.

"I've had a rough time with the game and with injuries. It's been a tough 12 months, to be honest with you. But I've done a lot of hard work physically and I'm fine now. I'm ready to play again and I'm in a nice position, so I am looking forward to the weekend.

"I'm just happy to be in this position. Today, when I started to get on a roll, I didn't want to back down. I was really trying to get into the final group because I haven't been there in a while. I didn't want to be crazy aggressive, but I knew I needed to keep my foot on the pedal. Tiger's such a good front-runner, you need to reach out and try to hold him back.

"I've played with Tiger so many times, and obviously he is a great player of our generation. I've got to do my thing, to play my game, play to my strengths. I've just got to do my own thing, and try to stay on top of things."

Welcome back, Mr Els.