Indeed, playing alongside Colin Montgomerie and Jose Maria Olazabal, Els was performing on a different level to his two old foes, both of whom missed the halfway cut. Relative to each other, one thing hadn’t changed though. It was almost comical to watch, a head-nodding reminder of days gone by. Off the tee, Montgomerie would routinely split the fairway, just as he has almost always done throughout his career. Els would then launch one 40 yards or so past the Scot. Again, nothing new in that. Then Olazabal, never the best with the longest club in his bag, would send one into rough left or right. It was circa-1994 all over again.