Struggling Ernie Els says he is going back to basics in a bid to get his misfiring putting back on track.

The big South African saw his hopes of winning a second British Open all but blown away when he came in with a four-over 74 in Saturday's windswept third round.

Not a bad score given the conditions, but having started the day 10 shots adrift of leader KJ Choi, Els had needed to at least better par to put himself back into contention.

The problem he said was his putting.

"It's been a frustrating week on the greens and when you're not making putts it's more frustrating," the 2002 champion at Muirfield said.

"There's been a lot of missed opportunties and a lot of missed putts.

"Like I said to (coach) Butch Harmon, I'm going to see him for two days in Las Vegas and work on the short game and get it sharp and I think I'll start scoring as it's been a tough year up till now.

"I'm going back to basics. I've tried different putters and different methods. There's a method trhat worked for me in the past and I'll go back to that."

Els won the Honda classic early in the year but he missed the cut in The Masters in April and was never in contention in the Scottish Open last week.

AFP