Golf-'Big Easy' Els in buoyant mood for Waialae

LOS ANGELES, Jan 14 (Reuters) - Buoyed by a top-six finish at the PGA Tour's season-opening Mercedes-Benz Championship, Ernie Els is in high spirits for this week's Sony Open in Hawaii where he has twice claimed the title.

The smooth-swinging South African has always enjoyed playing on the tight, palm tree-lined fairways at Waialae Country Club in Honolulu, placing no worse than fifth in five appearances.

"It's great to be back," Els told reporters on Wednesday as he prepared for his first Sony Open start since 2005 when he was runner-up behind Fijian Vijay Singh.

"The great thing here is the kids have a great time and we stay right on the golf course, so it feels really relaxed.

"It's a golf course where you've got to be patient," added the world number 10. "You can't go out there and hit the ball as hard as you can and go for everything. You've got to play proper golf.

"Before I came here, I used to watch it (the tournament) on television a little bit so I had a little bit of an idea (how) to play it. I really like the greens here, they are really fast."

'BIG EASY'

Els, popularly known as the 'Big Easy', came fifth on his Waialae debut in 2000 and finished third in 2001 before winning the title in 2003 and 2004.

"I've always enjoyed playing this tournament so, yeah, I obviously like my chances," the three-times major champion said. "I feel as confident going into this week as I was going into the Mercedes."