Els leaps forward by inching back

GOLF: Last week, after four rounds of the Johnnie Walker Classic in Perth, Ernie Els was two under par. Yesterday, after one round of the Heineken Classic at Royal Melbourne, he was eight under par - and the difference was less than an inch.

Els spent most of his time in Perth bemoaning his putting. He felt he was striking his full shots as well as he could, but the putts simply would not drop.

So this week he took remedial action, moved the ball back in his stance by "about half a ball", and the effect was immediate. He stopped striking the ball on the upstroke, stopped pulling his putts wide to the left and instead started to see them go in.

As a result he returned a magnificent 64 over the composite course, good enough to give him the lead over an eclectic collection of contenders, among whom are Adam Scott, aged 21, and Nick Faldo, aged 44, both on five-under 67.

Both are behind a Welsh interloper, the 23-year-old Mark Pilkington, whose father, John, is the professional at Pwllheli. Mark is beginning to make his way in the game, with two top-12 finishes on the European Tour this year, and yesterday he began with three successive birdies, was four under after five and six under, with a 66, at the finish.

In 1986, just before the US Masters, an Atlanta newspaper wondered openly why Jack Nicklaus continued to play at Augusta when he self-evidently had no chance of winning. Barbara Nicklaus cut the article out, pinned it to the fridge door where her husband would be bound to see it, and an infuriated Jack went out and won the championship at the age of 46.

It is early days yet, of course, but yesterday Faldo, as if in response to being written off in The Australian, produced one of his best rounds in years. As it was compiled in the afternoon, after the wind had freshened, it was the more meritorious.

"I'll take that," Faldo said, "I won't walk away thinking that it should have been better."

It was certainly better than was anticipated by a local columnist, who on the morning of the round had written: "It is not quite clear why Nick Faldo is teeing it up at Royal Melbourne for the first time since 1990, the year he won the US Masters, Open and came second in the US Open.

"The six-time major champion has not won a tournament since 1997 and his swing has been reconstructed so many times his bag no longer contains clubs but scaffolding. The younger players blast the ball past the 44-year old. Like a fine golf course, he has been made redundant by age and technology."

Faldo's response was pertinent."If they think I'm past it, good luck to them." He went on: "I am also here on business, to find some golf courses (to design). Things are going great there; it is a great trip already."

That means he has signed a contract, and as his fee for that activity alone is £1 million, he is indeed having a great trip.

He was also honest enough to admit that on at least four holes he had made "great saves" and that his putting, which included two 20-footers and one from 40 feet, had been all he could wish for.

HEINEKEN CLASSIC (at Royal Melbourne) - Leading first round scores (Brit unless stated, par 72): 64 - E Els (Rsa) 66 - M Pilkington 67 - A Scott (Aus), N Faldo, P Lonard (Aus), B Lane, (x) E Lee (Nzl) 68 - D Howell, M Campbell (Nzl), C Parry (Aus), P O'Malley (Aus), M Farry (Fra), P Sjoland (Swe) 69 - A Tschudin (Aus), D Smail (Nzl), J Singh (Ind), G Norman (Aus), P Fowler (Aus), T Immelman (Rsa), M Cain (Aus).