In weather dangerously close to being summery, Ernie Els was in a slipover, looking to be at peace with the world as he practised on the putting green at Druids Glen yesterday afternoon. Clearly, it was an immense relief to have learned that recent back problems were not directly related to his spine.

Indeed his recovery has been such that he has set himself quite a demanding build-up to the British Open at Royal Birkdale on July 16th to 19th. "I'm not going to Loch Lomond," he said. "Me and a couple of friends will stay in Ireland and play Portmarnock, Royal Co Down, Portrush and Ballybunion."

He went on: "It's so good to be able to play a couple of links courses and then go to England on the Friday and prepare. I may even take in the British Grand Prix. I'm probably no more than 75 to 80 per cent fit right now, but I don't like sitting around for too long."

Els, who is returning to the Murphy's Irish Open having finished in a share of 12th place at Druids Glen two years ago, is certain to be one of the key attractions. But it is equally clear that an extremely promising season was brought to a disquieting halt at Westchester, where he was forced to withdraw from the Buick Classic with a damaged back.

Up to that point, the South African's record had been quite remarkable. In six appearances in Europe he had never been out of the top-three; he won the South African Open and, most recently, was tied second behind Colin Montgomerie in the Volvo PGA Championship.

Meanwhile, in the US, he won the Bay Hill Invitational with a 14-under-par aggregate that was no fewer than 10 strokes clear of Tiger Woods. And he had three other top-10 finishes, including a share of seventh place in the Memorial. But Els now concedes that it was probably a mistake to defend his US Open title at the Olympic Club two weeks ago.

"I hit a lot of balls at Muirfield Village (Memorial) and Wentworth (Volvo PGA) to prepare properly for the US Open, then, boom, this back problem hit me," he said. "As defending champion I felt an obligation to play at the Olympic club. And as things turned out I didn't play all that badly. I was fourth in greens in regulation and what really let me down was my putter."

He continued: "Before the back problems, I felt I was playing pretty well, so the timing of the injury was unfortunate. But after a week's treatment, I feel a lot better now. I've just got to take it easy and not hit so many balls. Any jerk and I'm back to where I was.

"It started in the lower back and went up the spine, like a tendon was stretched and the muscle around it went into spasm. It's been hard for the physio to release all the tension from it, but at least I've been assured that there's no problem with my spine."

As his application on the putting green indicated, Els plans to work hard on his short game this week so as to become mentally ready for Birkdale. But what of his old rival, Colin Montgomerie, who beat him in the final of the Andersen Consulting World Matchplay Championship in Arizona in January and into second place in the PGA at Wentworth?

"Colin will obviously be up there again," replied Els. "But he's played quite a bit of golf." Then with a grin: "He'd better watch his back as well." Either way, their respective remarks at Wentworth indicated that while clearly acknowledging each other's talents, Montgomerie looks almost reverentially on Els as twice a winner of the US Open, the tournament most coveted by the Scot.

The changes to Druids Glen were already having an impact during practice yesterday as a fresh breeze faced the players at the fourth and, critically, at the 18th. "There were a few wedges on the front nine, but I tell you the back nine is playing long," said Els, who could hardly be described as a pat-a-cake golfer. "It seemed that every hole on the back nine was into a left to right wind."

The tournament organisers have indicated that the forward tee at the 18th may come back into play, depending on the weather. The medal tee will be used on the 13th and 14th holes during the opening two rounds. The back tees may be used for the weekend.