Els inching closer to first Major title in eight years

Ernie Els is without a major win since the 2002 Open and without a single Tour win in his last 54 events stretching back more than two years.

But the 40-year-old South African can fix the second of those in Miami tomorrow and, if he does, the odds on him making it 17th time lucky at The Masters next month will come tumbling down.

Els, runner-up at Augusta to Vijay Singh in 2000 and Phil Mickelson in 2004, took a one-stroke lead over Australian Robert Allenby into the third round of the WGC-CA Championship at Doral.

“I feel like I’m close and I don’t want to let it go,” he said after a six under par 66 lifted him to 10 under at halfway in the second of this season’s world championships.

“I feel mentally fresh and when you are like that you want to have a bit of game with that.

“If I can get those two flowing I think I might have some good stuff happening and I love the golf courses we’re playing this year in the majors. I love them.

“I’ve done well at Pebble (Beach), I’ve done well at St Andrews and I did well at Whistling Straits.”