Friday, 15th June 2007 at 12:10 pm

Can the Big Easy roll back time?

One round down, and he’s only five shots off the pace, sparking outside hopes across South Africa that an Oakmont double might be on the cards. In 1994, a young Ernie Els caused a shock by picking up his first Major victory after winning a play-off; that was the last time the US Open was played at Oakmont until this year, where a returning Big Easy finds himself desperately hoping for an end to his recent lean run.

The jet-ski injury, and the surgery that followed, have knocked Els off his stride, and the man who found golf so dismissive a challenge has now discovered mastering it a far more elusive art. And while plenty of nostalgia surrounds his challenge this week (the Golf Challenge has been awash with footage from 1994), the honest truth is that an Els victory this week would come as something of a surprise.

A most welcome one, however, and after the first 18 holes, the South African is well within range. But vicious, quicksilver greens, rough straight out of the Amazon, and fairways of verdant crazy paving, make for a nasty challenge; cue just two golfers (Nick Dougherty and Angel Cabrera) finishing day one under-par. It means Els has a tough three days ahead, as do the rest of the field - and with Tiger Woods at one-over, no prizes for who’s still very much the favourite. Oakmont is all too easy to blow up on; for now, though, there’s still the dream of an Els repeat to flirt with.