Els makes his mark

Ernie Els showed few signs of fatigue as he made an explosive start to his second round in the Omega European Masters.

Starting on the 10th, Els smashed his opening drive to within 10 yards of the green on the 407-yard par four and pitched to six feet to set up a birdie three.

That took the world number two into the lead on his own at seven under par, one clear of defending champion Robert Karlsson who was among the later starters.

Els has won five times already this season and currently tops the Order of Merit, but admits his hectic schedule is finally catching up with him.

The 33-year-old won twice in Hawaii in February, then finished second in a tournament in Singapore, won twice more in Australia before flying back to California for the World Matchplay and then back to Dubai for the Desert Classic - all in the space of nine weeks.

“I think I’ll change my schedule next year,” said Els, who does not plan on competing in the season-ending Volvo Masters even if the title of European number one is on the line.

“By the end of the year I’ll have played 27 or 28 and I’ll probably cut back a bit. I can feel my energy is not quite the same as it has been and that’s why I’ve been coming out a bit later to tournaments.

“There is a little bit of energy that goes after the majors have finished as well but I’ve got two weeks off after this and I want to finish on a high.”

There was only another low point for Seve Ballesteros however this morning, the five-time major winner withdrawing with a back injury before his second round.

Ballesteros, who made his first appearance for almost four months in the BMW International Open last week, had struggled to an opening 74, three over par, at Crans-sur-Sierre.