For all the talk about who is ready to assume the top slot among the world’s golfers, one player may actually be ready.
Ernie Els.
And with rounds like his opening 68 at the World Golf Championships bettered Friday with a 66 to go 10-under at the turn heading into the weekend at Doral, the Big Easy is making his case.
“I feel really good mentally this year,” Els said. “I feel a little bit more fresh than I have been. I feel like, you know, I’m up for it a little bit more this year. I’m a bit more excited about my whole game.”
Els has the requisite credentials with 16 PGA Tour victories and he’s proven he can win under pressure with three major titles — a pair of U.S. Open championships and British Open crown.
Those haven’t been just drive-by performances, either. Els has a pair of runner-up finishes at both the Masters and British, a second at the U.S. Open and two third-place finishes at the PGA.
Mike Scarr
What hasn’t happened with great regularity since the 2004 season, though, is winning.
Els captured the WGC American Express title in October of that year for his third victory of the season but only one time since has he cashed the big check. That came at the 2008 Honda Classic early in the season.
So the drought is officially two years and counting, and better than five if the Honda is considered the exception.
But the indicators are there to believe that Els is close to returning to golf’s elite.
Els closed out last season by finishing second to Phil Mickelson at the WGC HSBC tournament in Shanghai in November. He also opened the playoffs with a T2 at the Barclay’s and had seven top-10 finishes in all.
In four of five events this year, Els has finished no worse than a T17 at the WGC Match Play near Tucson and played well in San Diego to finish in a tie for fifth.
His lone blemish is a T67 last week at the Honda.
“We haven’t really played in big winds, and last week the wind blew, and as I say, I just got my ball position way too far up in my stance, started chasing the ball, was hitting these big, high hooks and big cuts,” Els said. “It wasn’t pretty.”
Regaining the form that made him a top-10 regular on the World Golf Ranking has been a challenge on a number of fronts.
Els had reconstructive surgery to repair a torn ACL in his left knee in 2005 and the rehab was slow, prompting the unfortunate comment at last year’s Barclays from Tiger Woods who called out Els for not working hard enough.
He’s struggled with his mechanics, too, something he said has been an issue since his days playing junior golf. With the ball a bit too forward in his stance, Els said he has poor posture, misalignment and hits bad shots.
And shortly after his 2008 victory at the Honda, Els revealed that his son Ben had autism. He and his wife Liezl established the Els for Autism Foundation a year ago, but Els said they knew for a long time that something was different with Ben.
“There’s a process that every kid goes through,” Els said on his Web site. “Crawl at nine months, walk at 12 months, and then start talking and so on. With Ben we started thinking: ‘Why is he not crawling? Why is he not walking? Why is he not looking me in the eye?’ Things like that. We soon discovered he was quite severely touched by autism.”
With that in the back of his mind in 2004, Els was close to one of the great years in golf only to come up short in all four majors with second-place finishes at the Masters and British Open, a T4 at the PGA and a T9 at the U.S. Open.
Sitting a stroke back at that Masters, Els watched Mickelson roll in a birdie on the last hole to win. Four months later, Els three-putted on his final hole at the PGA to miss the playoff won by Vijay Singh. At the British that year, Els missed a birdie to win on 18 and ultimately lost in a playoff to Todd Hamilton. He shot an 80 in the final round of the ‘04 U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills.
So finding the rhythm that produced 15 victories from 1994-04 stateside and another 19 on the European Tour is on the career agenda. Els and family have relocated to Florida to aid Ben and his family, but he also reduced his travel and has chosen to forego some international events to play more often in the U.S.
With this week’s WGC-CA Championship close to his West Palm Beach home, Els battled the elements Friday as play was halted twice for wind and rain. He responded with a bogey-free round that featured six birdies including four on his opening nine.
Keying his round were the 16 putts he had from 10 feet. Els sunk all of them.
It was enough to hold off Robert Allenby, who is nine-under for the championship and standing alone in second. The Australian was close to taking charge himself with an ace and an eagle to go along with six birdies, but three bogeys and a double resulted in a 67.
Els should like his chances. In three of four stroke-play events this season, Els has played the weekend in 17-under par.
“I feel like I’m close and I don’t want to let it go,” Els said.
At 40, the focus is less on the number of wins and more on the quality. That, of course, means the majors.
Augusta National, Pebble Beach, St. Andrews and Whistling Straits are the sites of the four major tournaments this year and Els has had success at all four.
“I feel that the golf courses we are playing this year in majors, I love them,” Els said. “I’ve done well at Pebble. I’ve done well at St. Andrews and I did well at Whistling Straits. So I like those courses. I feel if I have my game there, I could have a good chance.”
So the opportunity is there for the taking on the Tiger-less tour. Mickelson, Stricker, Ian Poulter have all appeared ready to challenge for the top slot, but none has seized it yet.
Els recognizes what is in front of him.
“I feel I’m really in a good space right now,” Els said. “I think I might have some good stuff happening.”
Mike Scarr is the editor of Golflink.com. He can be reached at golflinkeditor@demandmedia.com.
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