Ernie Els has finished his second round third in the Masters leaderboard with 72, but sits a heavy eight shots behind a relentless Jordan Spieth at Augusta National.

The South African, who is one of the early finishers on Friday, was tied for second after an opening 67, and he started strongly this afternoon by scoring a birdie on the second hole.

After being one-under-par early in the day, the 45-year-old stumbled as he made his way through the front nine by carding bogeys on both the fifth and seventh holes.

Despite the wobble, Els managed to regain his composure by securing a birdie on the eighth to bring himself back to level-par, but he got into trouble again on the 10th and 11th holes as he dropped a shot on each.

Currently, Spieth looks to be running away with the Major, but Els was able to get himself back into a respectable position by hitting a birdie on the 13th and then another on the next hole.

Els ended level-par and five-under for the tournament.