Buoyed by his new Presidents Cup role and the exemption into the US Open in June, Ernie Els was the standout Saffa performer through 18 holes at Bay Hill, writes WADE PRETORIUS.
The Big Easy’s solid back nine 33 helped him move five back of leader Henrik Stenson at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
Stenson’s superb first round overshadowed many of the performances by world stars on Thursday including Jimmy Walker, Rickie Fowler (both at -5), Patrick Reed and Tiger Woods (both -4).
Justin Rose moved from +4 to -3 in 12 holes to join the bunch at three under that includes Rory McIlroy, Sam Burns, Graeme McDowell and Emiliano Grillo.
From +4 to -3 in 12 holes.@JustinRose99 proving it’s not how you start, it’s how you finish. pic.twitter.com/xQPfJFWCYm
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 16, 2018
The standout name in the group at -3 is Ernie Els. The veteran South African started with a bogey five on the first after a drive into the right rough left him scrambling. The error was corrected by a birdie 2 on the 7th after his tee shot to 10 feet was followed up by a smooth roll into the cup.
A pretty innocuous-looking scorecard quickly looked a lot better with a birdie at the 10th thanks to a 13-foot birdie putt and another gain at the 12th; this time, however, it was a 22-foot putt that found the bottom of the hole.
Els then found the par-five 16th in two and calmly two-putted to get to -3 for the day before closing with two pars.
Tyrone van Aswegen recovered from being +3 through 10 – a number bolstered by an eagle in that stretch – with four birdies in a row from his 11th hole before a late drop saw him finish even for the first round. He is one shot better than Charl Schwartzel with Louis Oosthuizen four over.
Oosthuizen turned level, made a trio of drops before a birdie at the 16th helped him limit the damage but doubled the last after taking two to get out of the greenside bunker to end a forgettable day at Arnie’s Place.
