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Els leads Verizon Heritage

14/04/2007

Ernie Els leads at the halfway point of the Verizon Heritage tournament in South Carolina after his second consecutive round of 65 lifted him to 12-under-par, three shots clear of Jerry Kelly.

Kelly had led after the first round but could only manage a round of one-under while Els maintained his high scoring with a flawless display of six-under-par on day two.

The South African made five birdies on the front nine to race to the top of the leaderboard and some steady play on the back nine helped him pick up one further birdie while he completed the rest of the round at level-par.

Els missed the cut at the Masters last week and his performance thus far at Harbour Town has been in stark contrast, much to the relief of the 37-year-old.

"This week, I've tried to play the way I can play, and if I'm going to make a mistake, then I don't feel like it's the end of the world," said Els.

He has had eight top ten finishes in ten appearances at the tournament and is hoping to make his advantage a winning one this time.

Fred Funk is tied for third place at eight-under-par with Australian Stephen Leaney. Funk carded a round of four-under to move up from a tie for fifth place at the start of the day.

Masters champion Zach Johnson is eight shots off the lead on four-under though nobody has won a PGA tour event straight after claiming the Masters since Bernhard Langer in 1985.

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