Ernie Els had a tough act to follow. But one day after flirting with a 59, he broke the European Tour record yesterday for the lowest 36-hole score with a 6-under 66 at the Heineken Classic to take a seven-shot lead after two rounds.
After firing a career-best 12-under 60 at Royal Melbourne in the opening round, his two-round total of 18-under 126 broke by one shot the previous 36-hole record he'd shared with six other players at the German Masters in 1994.
The US PGA tour record is 19-under 125 set by Tom Lehman at the Invensys Classic in Las Vegas in 2001. Lehman opened with rounds of 63-62.
"It was a good day's work," Els said of Friday's low round. "I hit every green, the only difference is that I didn't hit them as close to the pin as yesterday. I played it a little bit safer."
With the wind blowing stronger off Port Phillip Bay, Els, starting Friday on the back nine, made the turn in 2-under 34. He finished his last nine with a 32, including a birdie on the par-5 ninth that he had eagled on Thursday during his course-record round.
Australian Richard Green, who shot 67 Friday, is in second place at 11-under 133. Adam Scott, playing with Els, carded 68 in his second round and was another stroke back at 10-under 134 tied for third with fellow Australian Peter Fowler (68).
The 36-hole cut was made at 1-under 143. Nick Faldo and Greg Norman are back for the weekend, Faldo's 73 Friday giving him 3-under 141 and Norman's 72 allowing him to sneak in on the cut score.
Former U.S. amateur champion Ricky Barnes failed to qualify with rounds of 72 and 77.
When jokingly asked in a news conference yesterday about his "mediocre" 66, Els laughed and replied: "Is that an official question, or are you trying to put the needle into me?"
Els said he met with his Belgian psychologist, Jos Vanstiphout, about the possible "negative part of the positive" -- a potential letdown yesterday after his near-59 Thursday.
"I spoke to Jos and we decided to get yesterday's round out of our minds as soon as possible," said Els. "It's obviously something that's hard to do."
Els managed.
"I felt the flags were a little more difficult today, tucked away, almost forcing you to play away," he said. "The golf course is showing a little bit of teeth and the breeze is picking up -- you might see a little bit of different scoring."
In two rounds, Els has 17 birdies, one eagle and one bogie.
Next up for Els today is his 54-hole European tour record of 23-under 193 he set last year at Lake Karrinyup in Western Australia at the Johnnie Walker Classic. Els won that tournament with a record 72-hole total of 29-under 259.
On the US tour, Gay Brewer holds the 54-hole record of 25-under 191 at the 1967 Pensacola Open while Tommy Armour III is the 72-hole record holder with a 26-under 254 at the Texas Open's La Cantera course in San Antonio last year.
"It's hard to say," Els said of future records. "The conditions are similar."
Seeking his third straight win in the Heineken Classic, Els broke the previous Royal Melbourne record of 62 set by New Zealand's Richard Lee in 2002.
"I just felt it was a dream round," Els said. "I think we would have totally stopped the press if we did shoot 59, but we didn't."
Scott, who was also in Els' group for the first two days last year in the Johnnie Walker Classic, said Els' play at Royal Melbourne has been "inspirational."
"I saw it last year at Karrinyup with Ernie," Scott said. "I said that was the best golf I'd even seen, until yesterday. It shows you it can be done."
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