Els eyes up the long shots

Golf

Golf

Ernie Els, using contact lenses in a tournament for the first time, went to the top of the leaderboard with an eight-under-par 64 in the rain- delayed first round of the South African PGA championship in Johannesburg yesterday.

After four birdies on the front and back nines, Els said: "I was particularly happy with my long irons which went very straight. But what made the biggest difference to me was being able to see my good shots land."

One shot behind Els were Northern Ireland's David Feherty and the South African Michael Scholz.

Feherty overcame tennis elbow to shoot his best score for two years. "That we weren't able to practise ahead of the tournament probably worked in my favour." he said. "I was able to have intensive physiotherapy on the elbow and although it's still sore it's nothing like as bad."