Els, Campbell Share Lead, but Tiger Lurking

Tiger Woods has no reason to worry.

He trails Ernie Els by three strokes after two rounds of the $1.3-million Johnnie Walker Classic, but that’s nothing compared to last year.

At that time, when the tournament was in Thailand, Woods rallied from eight strokes behind to beat Els in a playoff for his biggest comeback as a professional.

Els shared the lead Friday with Michael Campbell of New Zealand. The South African shot a five-under-par 67 for a 36-hole total of 137 at Ta Shee Golf and Country Club.

“Tiger’s the best golfer in the world,” Els said. “He had a mediocre day. If I can score under 70 for the next couple of days, then they’ll have to come out and catch me.”

Woods, who has won four consecutive tournaments and eight of his last 11, shot a 72 for 140. He is having trouble with his short game, mixing three bogeys with three birdies over the 7,150-yard course.

“I held it together but was struggling with the putter and did well to fight back to even for the day,” Woods said.

Els and Campbell were followed by Nick O’Hern of Australia and Marten Olander of Sweden at 138.