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KAPALUA (Hawaii), Jan 11: South African Ernie Els continued to display mid-season form, blistering the Plantation Course for a second straight day on Friday en route to 17-under-par total and a new 36-hole record at the season-opening Mercedes Championships.
Els posted an eight-under 65, running his string of bogey-free holes to 28 and opening a three-stroke lead on Bob Estes, who shot a second consecutive seven-under-par 66 and is at 14-under-par.
South Korean K.J. Choi is in third place, five shots back at 12-under-par in the opening PGA Tour event of the season.
Els’ 17-under-par total eclipsed the old championship record of 16-under-par set by David Duval in 1999.
Duval went on to win the winners’ only tournament by nine strokes, the largest winning margin of the event since Gene Littler’s 13-stroke victory in 1955.
Els, the top-ranked player in the field at number three in the world, has shown none of the rust that some players exhibit at this stage of the season.
Through 36 holes, Els has recorded 13 birdies and three eagles against a lone double-bogey.
He is 11-under on the par-five holes.
Estes, by his own admission, did not play as well in the second round and after hitting all 18 greens in the first round, he was a bit erratic on Friday.
Though Estes recorded a second straight 66, the second round was highlighted by a chip-in on the seventh hole, which was a turning point to the round.
After hitting his tee shot on the par-four seventh, Estes initially thought his ball landed in the hazard that lines the right side of the fairway.
But a spectator found his ball and Estes was able to get it close to the green.
With the North winds expected, Estes, who was born and raised in Texas, hopes to have an advantage over most of the field.
Yet even he knows that anything can happen in the Hawaiian winds.
Second round scores:
129 Ernie Els 64 65
132 Bob Estes 66 66
134 K.J. Choi 67 67
135 Retief Goosen 70 65, Jerry Kelly 65 70, Chris Riley 65 70
136 Ian Leggatt 69 67, Jim Furyk 64 72
137 Kevin Sutherland 71 66, Jonathan Byrd 68 69, Gene Sauers 65 72
138 Nick Price 69 69, Vijay Singh 68 70, Phil Tataurangi 68 70, Loren Roberts 68 70, Shigeki Maruyama 66 72
139 Charles Howell III 73 66, Jeff Sluman 72 67, J.P. Hayes 72 67, Justin Leonard 71 68
140 Craig Parry 71 69, Matt Kuchar 70 70, Craig Perks 69 71, Chris Smith 69 71, Dan Forsman 69 71, Luke Donald 68 72
141 Rocco Mediate 72 69
143 Len Mattiace 75 68, Spike McRoy 72 71, Bob Burns 71 72
144 Sergio Garcia 71 73, John Rollins 72 72, Matt Gogel 69 75
145 Jose Maria Olazabal 74 71, Rich Beem 74 71, Chris DiMarco 70 75.
SOMERSET WEST (South Africa): Former South African amateur champion Jean Hugo took the third-round lead in the South African Open on Saturday with a seven-under-par 65.
Hugo, 27, who lost his European tour card at the end of last season, leads Briton Phil Golding and compatriot Tim Clark by one stroke with a 12-under 204.
He started with a bogey on the par-four first but then carded nine birdies and another bogey to set up an interesting last day.
Leading third round scores
204 Jean Hugo 66 73 65
205 Philip Golding 71 70 64, Tim Clark 67 67 71
207 Ian Hutchings 75 68 64, Trevor Immelman 70 71 66, Justin Rose 72 69 66, Brian Davis 71 69 67, Rolf Muntz 68 70 69 208 David Howell 69 72 67, Bradford Vaughan 69 71 68, Bobby Lincoln 71 68 69.—Reuters
