Ernie Els made his move on Saturday with a five-under-par 67 in the second round of the Chubb Classic at Tiburon Golf Club in Naples, Florida lifting him into second place ahead of the final round of the PGA Tour Champions tournament.
The Big Easy had a double-bogey five on the seventh hole, but his seven birdies took him to 10-under-par through 36 holes. He was just a single shot behind Justin Leonard, who had a seven-under-par 65 to pull ahead of Els. The South African was two clear of first-round leader Paul Stankowski of the United States, and there were six players on seven-under in a share of fourth.
The 52-year-old Leonard, who won the Open in 1997, is chasing his first PGA Tour Champions win in his 45th start on the circuit. He is making his third start of the 2025 season, and his best finish was a share of eight in the Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai.
The 55-year-old Els won that tournament, and is looking for his second victory of the season in only the third event of 2025. That would make this year his third multi-win season on the tour, and it would give him his eighth win since he started playing on it. He would also become the first player since Miguel Angel Jimenez of Spain in 2022 to win two of the first three tournaments of the year.
