Els scrapes through to make cut

Ernie Els was forced to work hard to preserve his record of not missing a halfway cut in a European tour event since 1999, 76 events ago.

Els was down in 80th place with seven holes of his second round to go in the Barclays Scottish Open at Loch Lomond and with only the top 65 and ties qualifying for the final 36 holes a run stretching back to his disqualification from the German Masters seven years ago was in danger of ending.

But the South African star then hit a 245-yard five-wood to 10 feet on the long third – his 12th – sank the eagle putt and then birdied the short fifth to take the pressure off.

On two under par following a 69, however, Els was still six adrift of the two joint early leaders, his compatriot Charl Schwartzel and Swede Johan Edfors.

“The third was a turning point,” commented the former Open champion, still trying to rediscover top form almost a year on from the sailing accident that required knee surgery.

With next week’s Open at Hoylake the top priority, he added: “I’m trying to get a good score going and I’m so close. It’s frustrating. I need a 65 to get my confidence going. I’d love to have a good weekend now and feel a little bit of pressure hitting shots when it really matters.”

Schwartzel added a 66 to his opening 68 to reach eight under and Edfors, joint first-round leader with Scot David Drysdale, mixed five birdies with three bogeys to be alongside him.

With four to play Drysdale was one behind along with Welshman Jamie Donaldson and also Argentina’s Andres Romero, who in a staggering run of six successive birdies, then three more in the space of four holes before bogeying the next.

Defending champion Tim Clark’s 67 lifted him to six under and both Luke Donald and Lee Westwood were one further back. Darren Clarke and Colin Montgomerie, five under and one over after the first round, were among the later starters.