AVONDALE, La. – In his first two competitive rounds at TPC Louisiana, Ernie Els seems to have again found an affinity for a Pete Dye course.
Els shot 4-under 68 Friday to find himself in contention in his first start at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans in 10 years.
‘I’m just lucky that my eye picked it up nicely. I could feel my way around, putt easily from the first time I played.’ He added, ‘Pete has been a favorite (designer) of mine.’
The confidence with the putter was on display again on Friday. Els took just 26 putts to get around, an improvement of one stroke over his Thursday 66.
‘Really been working hard on putting and I’m starting to feel more natural with it, feeling like the old me,’ he said.
The Big Easy, however, was disappointed he did not go lower.
‘I thought conditions were a little easier this morning. I didn’t quite capitalize on the front nine but didn’t make too many mistakes either. I might have left one or two out there,’ he said.
‘It’s not that easy to keep going low. I was trying to do that.’
Nevertheless, Els is pleased to be in position for his first win since 2010.
‘I would have taken 68, I would have taken 10 under before I started the event after two rounds,’ he said. ‘I’m in a pretty good position and looking forward to the weekend.’