Bjorn lets Els off the hook

Ernie Els held a three-hole lead over Thomas Bjorn at the halfway stage of their 36 holes in the HSBC World Match Play final at Wentworth today.

Seeking the £1m (€1.67m) first prize – the second biggest in golf – and a record-equalling fifth title, the South African took four of the first eight holes, two with birdies and two with pars as Bjorn three-putted from only eight feet at the fifth and hit a six-iron into sand on the eighth.

Els turned in a three-under 32 to Bjorn’s one-over 36, but then slackened off. He missed a four-foot birdie putt to lose the 12th and made a mess of the 14th and 15th to be only one-up.

Bjorn failed to take full advantage, though. He went into a bunker at the 16th and failed to get up and down, then could not match Els’s chip-and-putt birdie on the 571-yard next.

Bunkered on the last, Els hit a low runner onto the green with a four-iron and two-putted to halve the hole in birdie fours, Bjorn this time chipping to four feet and making the putt.

“I was going the other way, so three-up is not too bad,” said Els. “I caught that four-iron a little skinny and didn’t mean to hit it that low. It cleared the lip by a nose.

“I could have really taken control, but 14 and 15 were the worst two holes I’ve played.”