Ernie Els, who came close to ending his five-year drought in the majors at last month's Open, yearns for another chance to claim his fourth major title at this week's PGA Championship at Southern Hills.

The South African would move within a Masters green jacket of a career grand slam by adding a U.S. PGA title to the 1994 and 1997 U.S. Opens and 2002 British Open championships.

"Somewhere there's been a bit of a dip in confidence and it's been tough to get it back to the level where I want to get it back to," Els said.

"At times, I've played some wonderful rounds of golf but I haven't quite closed the deal in a lot of the tournaments."

Els, 37, and ranked fourth in the world, has hauled himself back as a primary contender after shutting down his 2005 season early due to a knee injury that required surgery.

He registered three birdies and no bogeys for a 33 on the front nine to surge into contention in the final round of The Open at Carnoustie, but finished tied for fourth after making two bogeys on the back nine.

"You know the British Open was a very close call for me," he said.

"On paper I was two shots away, but I was right there in the mix of things and I didn't quite close it. The back nine, I made some mistakes and didn't quite roll in the putts."

Els closed with a 68 at last week's WGC-Bridgestone to finish tied for 22nd and took encouragement from his play.

"At the moment I'm striking the ball really well," he said. "I struck it really well last week in Akron, just found it a bit difficult on the greens here and there.

"But I'm playing good golf. I feel like I'm striking it well, and I'm just trying to enjoy it a bit more. I've got to take positives out of all those and take it to this week. I know it will be very, very difficult, but I just want to try and give myself a chance."

Reuters