The diet can wait – Ernie Els feasts on Hualalai and takes lead at Champions event in Hawaii

Call it the feast before the purge.

Insisting he needs to shed a few pounds in the near future, Ernie Els found Hualalai Country Club pretty tasty during Thursday’s opening round of the PGA Tour Champions’ season-opening Mitsubishi Electric Championship in Hawaii.

Els played bogey-free golf in the opening round and made an eagle on No. 15 and a birdie on the closing hole to jump to the top of a star-studded leaderboard.

How did Els handle his holiday break?

“You know what, I just took a rest,” he said. “I need to lose about 10 pounds, but I’m sure we can do that in the next couple weeks. I played with the guys, kept myself sharp, played a lot of golf, social golf at Turtle Creek and places around town (in South Florida), Bear Lakes.

“It’s just a great feeling coming out here. Just want to let it go out here, so it’s a good feeling to be out here.”

Els sits at 8 under while Vijay Singh is a stroke behind. The quintet of Retief Goosen, Bernhard Langer, Darren Clarke, Stephen Ames and Steven Alker was lurking at 6 under.

For Els, who already has a pair of Champions Tour titles in his trophy case, any chance to play in Hawaii is special.

“I love it out here. We were close to living out here or buying another home out here many, many times. Might still happen, but it’s a great feeling to come here,” he said. “The people are just so unbelievable. This resort, Four Seasons here, it’s just unbelievable. It’s something you can get used to very quickly.”

The three-day event plays its final round Saturday.