Els advances in Qatar Masters

There was good and bad news for fans and backers of Ernie Els following the second round of the Qatar Masters in Doha.

The good was that Els, in danger of missing the cut on the European tour for the first time since 1999 after an opening 73, moved up from 81st to joint 24th with a 69. The bad was that he is still seven strokes off the lead. Australian left-hander Richard Green came in late in the day with a 68 and on nine under par is one in front of Swedes Pierre Fulke and Robert Karlsson heading into the last 36 holes.

Els reckons he now needs a “quality weekend” to make it two wins in a row following his success in the Dubai Desert Classic.

But at least the South African was back on better terms with Belgian sports psychologist Jos Vanstiphout, with whom he had had heated words on the driving range prior to his first round.

“It was crazy - I guess we can put it down to a misunderstanding,” said Els, the only player in the world’s top 50 taking part in the event and believed to have received around £200,000 for agreeing to play and give a clinic.

“I was not happy. He is supposed to give me encouragement, not what he gave me. It’s supposed to be 10 minutes of good stuff before I play, but that was 12 minutes of the most ridiculous stuff I’ve ever thought of.

“I don’t know what went through his head.”