Els in front in Hawaii

Ernie Els continued his strong start to 2001 by grabbing the halfway lead in the USPGA Mercedes Championships.  

The South African carded a six-under-par 66 for a 12-under total of 134 and a four-shot lead.

Tiger Woods defeated Els in a play-off in this event for one of his nine victories in 2000 but he struggled to a one-over 73 and is tied for 18th at 143.

Ranked second in the world, Els is coming off a semi-final showing at the World Golf Championships-Match Play Championship where he was the top seed in Woods' absence.

Last year, he became the first player in history to finish runner-up in three major championship events, behind Vijay Singh in the Masters and Woods at the US Open and The Open.

The two-time US Open winner was four strokes ahead of Singh, Jim Furyk and Rory Sabbatini. Rocco Mediate, Michael Clark and Billy Andrade were five shots off the pace at 139.

Five players were tied on 140, including first-round leader Justin Leonard who carded a 73.

Els was not getting carried away with his performance so far, though.

He said: "I just played as well as I could, probably.

"I feel comfortable on the course. I've just got to go out there and play my game, kind of let it take care of itself."

Woods admitted: "I would say I'm a little bit rusty. It can't get much worse. I'm hitting terribly, I'm chipping terribly and I'm putting terribly."