Ernie Els calls a penalty and gets another major decision right at Wentworth

Ernie Els believes he got two major decisions right after calling a penalty on himself in the first round of the BMW PGA Championship.

Els appeared to have chipped in for an eagle on the par-five 12th at Wentworth, but instantly realised he had not replaced his ball in the right place after checking to see if it was plugged.

The four-time major winner was therefore assessed a two-shot penalty and eventually signed for a one-under-par 71 to lie four shots behind clubhouse leaders Scott Jamieson, Kiradech Aphibarnrat and Francesco Molinari.

“I pulled my second shot a bit left and hit it into the bank of the bunker,” Els, 47, explained. “I thought it was plugged, so I asked my guys (playing partners) if I could check it and they said, ‘Yeah’.

“I put it back and I hit my chip shot and I just felt uncomfortable by the way the ball came out. The ball came out way too good so I felt I didn’t quite probably put it exactly where I should have.”

“Under the rules you try and put it back the way you think it should be, but I still felt uncomfortable with it, so we took a two-shot penalty. I know deep down the ball wasn’t quite where it should be and I wouldn’t be able to live with myself.”

Els at least had reason to celebrate the verdict on his latest redesign of the West Course, which has met with universal approval from his fellow competitors.

“The greens are absolutely as pure as you can find,” said Els, who was visibly upset by criticism of his original redesign in 2010. “Next week we’ll be playing the Memorial (at Muirfield Village) and I think these greens are running just as good or better than the Memorial, or Augusta for that matter.”

Jamieson, who was in the first group out at 7am, carded five birdies in a flawless opening 67 as he looks to avoid another battle to retain his European Tour card.

“The last two years have been a bit of a struggle for me but it’s been a solid start to this season,” said Jamieson, who finished 106th and 107th on the Race to Dubai in 2015 and 2016 respectively.

Danny Willett, Justin Rose and defending champion Wood all finished on level par, with Wood throwing his ball into the water on the 18th after a bogey six.

Players and caddies wore black ribbons as a mark of respect to the victims of the terrorist attack in Manchester on Monday, with a minute’s silence held at 11am.