Ernie Els has rediscovered his belief

Former Open Champion Ernie Els has rediscovered his belief at Royal Lytham & St Annes and feels "something special" could happen in the final round.

The South African, who won The Claret Jug at Muirfield ten years ago for the last of his three Majors, shot a 68 to put himself in a tie for fifth on five under.

It leaves him six shots off the lead but the 42 year old has the feeling he can get better.

"For some reason I've got some belief this week," said the 1994 and 1997 US Open Champion who has had an indifferent few years by his standards.

"I feel something special can happen.

"I feel I've put in a lot of work, let's call it the last couple years, especially the last couple of months, so something good is bound to happen, so hopefully it's tomorrow."

Els, looking back at his two previous appearances at Lytham, added: "I'm kind of in a similar position as I was in '96 and 01, trying to chase down a leader.

"In '96 I came close (joint second) and '01 not so close (joint third) but I feel I've got a chance.

"I feel the way I'm playing, if those putts start dropping I can really shoot a low one. So that's what I'm hoping for."

A year ago Els dropped out of the Official World Golf Ranking's top 50 for the first time since 1993 and this year failed to qualify for the Masters Tournament - also for the first time in 19 years.

His victories have become much more sparse, with the last coming in December 2010 at the South African Open.

But he hopes his affinity with the tournament and knowledgeable Open galleries can spur him on in the final round.

"The Open is also different and special in its own way," he said.

"You can feed off this crowd. This crowd really knows the game really well and knows the golf course very well.

"They know when you've hit a good shot or a poor one."

Els went to the turn in 32 with a couple of birdies and although a bogey five at the 14th slowed his momentum he picked up another shot at the 17th.