Ernie Els marked his own report card yesterday after narrowly making the halfway cut in the Omega European Masters in Crans-sur-Sierre, Switzerland. "Could have done better" would sum up the South African's season.
Els had five bogeys and four birdies in his second-round 72. That gave the South African a two-round total of 143, one-over par, which allowed him to sneak into the final rounds.
The big-hitting Argentinian Ricardo Gonzalez shot a 67 yesterday for a total of 132, to lead by one from former Ryder Cup player David Gilford and Scotland's Gary Orr, who both hit 66s, and two clear of New Zealand's Stephen Scahill.
Els is the marquee name in a field short of genuine stars. He should be winning tournaments like the Omega European Masters, not struggling to make the cut.
"I don't think the course likes me," was all Els could come up with yesterday. "I just don't seem to score well. I had a lot of birdies and a lot of bogeys. I just never got it to flow.
"My season has been up and down. I'd give it a six or a seven out of 10, a B-minus probably. Last year was an A-minus. This year is a B-minus." The 31-year-old started working with Belgian sports psychologist Jos Vanstiphout about a month ago to try to salvage something from the year. Vanstiphout works with US Open champion Retief Goosen, along with Darren Clarke, Padraig Harrington and Michael Campbell.
"I'm working with Jos, just throwing some ideas around. Being a professional for 12 years I guess we all go a little bit crazy every now and again. I just like to hear different outlooks from different people. I like listening to him. He has a nice, free way of speaking and throwing ideas around."
The South African admits to betraying his nickname of the "The Big Easy" this season. "On the outside I look pretty calm, but on the inside I've got my goals that I want to achieve," said Els.
Ireland's Gary Murphy and David Higgins, both struggling to maintain their tour cards, made it safely through, while Philip Walton slipped from his opening 68 to a 73 yesterday but still had two shots to spare.
SECOND ROUND SCORES
(British unless stated, Irish in bold)
132 R Gonzalez (Arg) 65 67.
133 D Gilford 67 66, G Orr 67 66.
134 S Scahill (Nzl) 67 67.
135 S Hansen (Den) 70 65, G Owen 68 67.
136 D Robertson 66 70, M Brier (Aut) 69 67.
137 W Bennett 68 69, P Eales 68 69, T Bjorn (Den) 66 71, G Brand Jnr 66 71.
138 C Stadler (USA) 69 69, D Lynn 68 70, N Henning (Rsa) 72 66, F Andersson (Swe) 68 70, G Murphy 69 69, S O'Hara 74 64, A Scott (Aus) 69 69, V Phillips 69 69, S Leaney (Aus) 67 71, R Jacquelin (Fra) 68 70, G Turner (Nzl) 67 71, J Rose 69 69.
139 B Davis 68 71, H Nystrom (Swe) 66 73, E Romero (Arg) 72 67, P O'Malley (Aus) 68 71, I Garrido (Spn) 67 72, L Westwood 70 69, T Immelman (Rsa) 70 69, F Jacobson (Swe) 68 71, J Haeggman (Swe) 71 68.
140 O Karlsson (Swe) 71 69, J Hugo (Rsa) 72 68, P Fowler (Aus) 69 71, Shaun Webster 69 71, S Gallacher 71 69, M Farry (Fra) 70 70, C Hanell (Swe) 69 71, D Carter 73 67, D Park 69 71.
141 P Walton 68 73, I Garbutt 72 69, W Riley (Aus) 74 67, MA Jimenez (Spn) 73 68, M James 71 70, JM Carriles (Spn) 73 68, T Gogele (Ger) 66 75, B Lane 72 69, S Luna (Spn) 71 70, D Higgins 71 70, F Valera (Spn) 69 72, M Mouland 69 72.
142 A Hansen (Den) 73 69, C Cevaer (Fra) 71 71, R Winchester 71 71, S Lyle 72 70, N Faldo 70 72, E Boult (Nzl) 70 72, E Canonica (Ita) 70 72, R Chapman 72 70, J Robinson 70 72, P Mitchell 71 71, M Gronberg (Swe) 70 72, A Cejka (Ger) 70 72 .
143 C Rodiles (Spn) 71 72, P Casey 76 67, E Els (Rsa) 71 72, K Felton (Aus) 70 73, S Ballesteros (Spn) 72 71, D Howell 71 72, G Emerson 71 72, G Storm 72 73, S Torrance 72 71, J Donaldson 71 72, M Lafeber (Ned) 72 71, M Scarpa (Ita) 70 73, R Claydon 72 71, J Rystrom (Swe) 69 74.
Missed the cut: 144 J Berendt (Arg) 74 70, P Quirici (Swi) 74 70, Zhang Lian-wei (Chi) 72 72, M Blackey 72 72, M Bernardini (Ita) 73 71, C Suneson (Spn) 75 69, F Cea (Spn) 72 72, A Wall 76 68, G Houston 73 71, A Raitt 69 75 145 M Reale (Ita) 74 71, D Fichardt (Rsa) 76 69, R Rafferty 76 69, M Mackenzie 72 73, S Richardson 71 74, C Hainline (USA) 72 73, M Santi (Ita) 70 75, M Pilkington 73 72, O Edmond (Fra) 74 71, S Reale (Ita) 72 73, T Dier (Ger) 73 72, N Vanhootegem (Bel) 70 75, Kyi Hla Han (Myanmar) 73 72, R Sterne (Rsa) 69 76 146 J Moseley (Aus) 74 72, R Coles 73 73, J-F Remesy (Fra) 74 72, P Streeter 73 73, E Simsek (Ger) 73 73, J Spence 75 71, T Munoz (Spn) 72 74, M Roe 75 71, J Lomas 74 72, B Dredge 76 70, J Bickerton 74 72, E Darcy 72 74 147 S Struver (Ger) 72 75, R Johnson (Swe) 74 73, M Knight (Swi) 71 76, G Havret (Fra) 77 70, K Ferrie 74 73, C Moody 71 76, M Lundberg (Swe) 71 76 148 A Forsbrand (Swe) 73 75, J Sandelin (Swe) 72 76, N Colsaerts (Bel) 74 74, S Dodd 74 74, N Cheetham 77 71, M Florioli (Ita) 72 76, P Sjoland (Swe) 75 73 149 (x) R Zimmerman (Swi) 76 73, M Pinero (Spn) 74 75, B Rumford (Aus) 72 77, M Loftus 74 75 150 R Byrd (USA) 76 74, R Ballesteros (Spn) 75 75, R Muntz (Ned) 77 73, G Rojas (Arg) 77 73, J Hawkes (Rsa) 75 75, N Dougherty 73 77 151 (x) T Weiss (Swi) 74 77, P Broadhurst 78 73 152 C Pettersson (Swe) 76 76, (x) R De Sousa (Swi) 75 77 153 A Forsyth 74 79 154 (x) J Clement (Swi) 81 73, Wong Hung-nung (Mal) 80 74 157 S Rey (Swi) 84 73 158 A Chopard (Swi) 80 78 159 (x) S Maio (Ita) 79 80 161 J Blatti (Swi) 81 80 165 M Chatelain (Swi) 84 81 Withdrew P Hanson (Swe).
