George White | |
Golf with George
April 16, 2007
George has been a journalist for close to 40 years. He wrote sports for the Houston Chronicle for 19 years and the Orlando Sentinel for 7 years. In 1994 he was one of the first people hired at the Golf Channel, were he started a career as an on-air talent, then moved over as one of the first writers of Golf Central and then their website. White retired from the Golf Channel after 12 years at the end of 2006. He will be writing a weekly column for GolfObserver.
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GolfObserver editors
Those gremlins get Ernie Els again
Photo: © Michael Cohen/WireImage |
| Boo Weekly after winning the Verizon Heritage. |
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It was those dad-gummed gremlins again. Ernie Els has been dodging them, fighting them, trying to avoid them for about five years now. His mental coach, Jos Vanstiphout, has tried to counsel Ernie on how to avoid the little critters. But Monday they nailed him again.
This time it was in the person of Boo Weekly, chipping in for the most unlikely of pars on 17, then coming back and doing the same thing on 18. Ernie was doing his bit for failure by knocking his tee ball over the green on the par-3 17th, winding up behind the TV tower far over the green, and making bogey. Then, on 18, Els' second shot - which had to go in to put him in a playoff - barely missed the cup. He finished - maddeningly, it must be mentioned - second again.
What it meant was that Els failed to win - again - in the U.S. He hasn't won here since 2004, when he took the Memorial trophy back to London. In 2005 he wrecked a knee while on a family sailboat outing. Last year was a mediocre-type campaign with Ernie finishing 28th on the tour money list.
Photo: © Michael Cohen/WireImage |
| Ernie Els after finishing his round one back. |
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Theodore Ernest Els is steadily coming closer this year. He's played six times in the U.S., and Monday's second place followed a T3 in the Nissan, a T18 at Bay Hill and a T11 at the WGC event at Doral. Of course, he also missed the cut at the Masters when the gremlins wrestled him down completely.
"I mean, (I'm) working so hard on my swing and my whole game, really, and I don't think I've let myself enjoy it," Ernie said last week. "You know, I've been a little hard on myself. I don't know if it's tournaments leading up to the Masters and the Masters itself. I wanted it too badly, and a lot of times I think I pushed a little too hard here and there and got in my own way.
"So this week I've just tried to play the way I can play, and if I'm going to make a mistake, then I don't feel like it's an 'end of the world' kind of thing."
Going into the week at Hilton Head, Els was the best putter on the tour. And he was fourth in scoring average. But his irons were certainly suspect - he was down at 180th, nearly at the bottom, in greens in regulation. And was No. 128 in driving accuracy, losing the ball to the right far too often.
Photo: © Michael Cohen/WireImage | | Ernie Els has won 50 times around the world. |
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Ernie, now 37 years old, has won 15 times in the U.S. since 1994. His first was, ahem, the U.S. Open. South African by birth, he formerly lived in Orlando before resettling in London. And, as befits his status as a resident of planet Earth, he's won more than 50 times around the globe.
It was probably unfortunate for Els that, right when he was poised to make a real statement in America, along came possibly the greatest player in the history of golf. Tiger Woods hit the pro tour in '96, when Ernie was 27 years old. By '99, Tiger was winning eight times - and Ernie was just then 29, normally beginning a golfer's most productive years.
In the seven years since in 1999, Els has won just eight more times in America. Could it be those gremlins again?
Els was No. 1 on the European Tour in 2003 and 2004, prior to his knee mishap. And this season, he won in South Africa in December, then finished third in Qatar, second in Dubai and was T6 at the Johnnie Walker in Thailand last month. Close, as they say, but no cigarillo. Probably too many gremlins again.
Photo: © Pete Fontaine/WireImage. |
| The last time that Ernie Els won on the PGA Tour was the 2004 WGC-American Express Championship. |
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"You know, in the last two years, I haven't really been where I think I should be. And at times I've been so frustrated that I really didn't want to talk to anybody," he said.
"That's just the game. You know, sometimes it kind of drives you a little crazy. I've had my frustrations, and I'm sure I'll have more. That's just part of the game. I just want to feel that the work I put in, I want to start seeing the benefits."
Golf as a profession has been good to Els. He's won $29 million on the PGA Tour alone, probably at least that much around the world. And his endorsement earnings are that much again. And that doesn't involve how much he has made around the globe in appearance fees - and Els makes a ton of money every year via the appearance route by popping up in all corners of the planet.
But money alone isn't what pleases him at this stage of his career. What would please him would be a win in the United States. That would send the gremlins scurrying for good. He's spent way too much time teeing off in the mornings Saturday and Sunday - the fate of those who aren't in the mix for a victory.
"You know, that's - you know, just falling off the level where you feel you should be, " he began a sentence. "I'm talking purely about golf."
Photo: © Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images | | Ernie Els won his last major at the 2002 British Open. |
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"I was at a pretty high level. I was pretty close to being No. 1 in the world, and then falling off that level, to try and get back there has been quite tough, very tough."
But, he can still remember - and remember well - how it used to be.
"When I play well, and I see clearly what I want to do, I see clearly where the ball's going - you know, in fact, my pre-shot routine is very clear," said Ernie.
"I think you've got to find a cure for what I've done. I've played well, but I haven't won, so why? I think a lot of times maybe I second guess a little bit - we all do, don't get me wrong. But I just need to really be very clear on what I want to do, and go with that plan."
Ernie calls it "the gremlins." You can call it fate, you can call it "Tiger Woods," you can call it what you want. Ernie Els just wants to overcome it - and get back to the winner's circle.
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