Two-time Open champ gets off to smooth start

ERIN, WIS. — The years since his last U.S. Open title have “gone like that,” Ernie Els said, as he snapped his fingers and laughed.

After a day like Thursday, who’s to say he can’t win another?

On the 20th anniversary of his second U.S. Open championship, Els put himself in the mix for a third, scrambling his way around Erin Hills for a 2-under 70 that kept him on the leaderboard most of the day. He was five shots behind leader Rickie Fowler.

He is 47 now, not 27, and the man known as the Big Easy feels the aches and pains a lot more.

“The lower back, hip, shoulder, knee and so on,” he said, before stopping and smiling at the seemingly never-ending nature of the list. “It’s really the first year I’ve started experiencing that, so it’s kind of new.”

He says his trainer, Vern McMillan, put him together nicely for this week — arguably the most physically and mentally taxing on the golf calendar — and for the first time this season, Els says he’s pain free.

“My putting is back and the short game is pretty good, so I’ve just got to play golf,” he said.

If anyone knows the value of par at the U.S. Open, it would be a two-time champion, the likes of Els.

He made two of them to outlast Loren Roberts on the 20th hole of a Monday playoff for his first title in 1994 at Oakmont. He made five straight down the stretch to hold off Colin Montgomerie at Congressional in 1997.

A pair of bogeys on the last two holes brought him to 2 under — not as good as it could have been, but certainly in the picture.

“You take a 2-under par in the first round of the U.S. Open, you know you’re right there,” Els said. “I know Rickie played a great round, 7 under, but through experience, you know the field is coming toward par.”

He is nearly five years removed from winning his fourth major — the 2012 British Open. It’s significant because his five-year exemption into the majors is running out this year.