Els blog: Title in South Africa one of my proudest moments
By Ernie Els, Special to PGATOUR.COM
Ernie Els will write a blog for PGATOUR.COM periodically during the 2010 season. For more information on Els, visit ernieels.com. For his 2009 blog, click here.
Dec. 20, 2010
I was really happy that I decided to play in the 100th South African Open. I've been playing at Durban Country Club for a lot of years now, both as an amateur and as a professional, and I won one of my Opens there a while back. It's a great layout and a great place to play golf. I had to take the kids out of school a couple of weeks early, which was a shame for them, but it was definitely worth it just this once. It was a great championship for South African golf and obviously for me, too. The home fans really encourage me and I feel a special bond with them; you know, they always keep me going whenever I need support. This win really means a lot to me.
Let me talk you through the whole week. My first round took a while to get started after we had play washed out on Thursday, but it was worth the wait. I hit the ball very nicely all day, especially on the back nine where I really started to string my shots together, and shooting 7 under came pretty easily. It was just one of those very comfortable rounds of golf and I enjoyed it a lot.
It felt really good to follow that first round with another 65. That's the best 36 holes I've played since the start of the year and it was nice to see the putts going in again. Callaway has made me a copy of a putter that I used as an amateur and pretty much for the first 10 years of my pro career, so that feels very comfortable. Sunday was going to be a long day, but I was looking forward to another battle with my old friend Retief. He's a great player and I knew that he would come at me hard.
That's exactly how it turned out and I think we gave the crowds pretty good value for money out there! Actually, I think it was one of the most incredible days I've ever had in my 20 years as a professional golfer. In the morning round we shot a better ball score of something like 58 and the lead changed hands quite a few times. It was a bit of a rollercoaster morning, but I managed to just get my nose in front again to start our final round and basically just carried on where I left off, making a bunch of birdies and a crucial eagle on the 14 th to take a four-shot lead into the final four holes.
Still, it wasn't over even then. I remember what Retief did at the Links at Fancourt five years ago, chipping in from a tough spot at the back of the green on No.17, and I was kind of expecting him to do something special like that again. Sure enough he holed a monster putt on No. 16 and then knocked it stiff on No. 17, so the gap was only two shots standing on the 18th tee. I was pretty nervous at that point, but I was still thinking very clearly. I took 5-wood and aimed left, because I knew I could get it up and down from that side of the green if I really needed to. In the end, I could afford to take two putts for par and still win by a shot. That was a nice feeling.
Retief has beaten me coming down the stretch quite a few times and he made it tough for me, so I was proud of how I played those final 36 holes. Of course, all wins are special, but this means more than most, as it's our national championship. And with Louis finishing third and Charl just behind him, it meant the top-four placed golfers were all home players, which was great in the 100th playing of our national open.
It's a nice way to end what was in many ways a season of two different halves for me. I came out of the blocks pretty fast and won twice in March during the Florida swing, but after the U.S. Open my game went off the boil for most of the summer and I must admit it was a struggle to get things back on track. But during the last five or six weeks of the season there were signs that the hard work I'd been putting in was starting to pay off. And with the help of some old friends back home in South Africa, Tour pros Phil Simmons and Des Terblanche who both know my game as well as anyone, I managed to get the putter going as well. That was the only difference last week. I've been hitting the ball well for some time; I just started to make the putts in Durban, that's all.
Anyway, this win is going to give me a lot of confidence starting the New Year. For now, though, I'm going to enjoy a nice break and chill out with the family down by the beach in Herold's Bay. But not before I host the Els for Autism Pro Am at Oubaai today, which should be a lot of fun. I flew down from Durban last night with 37 pros, a mixture of young guns and old mates. We'll play 18 holes today and then there's a gala dinner tonight and charity auction. I want to personally thank everyone for taking part and for supporting this worthy cause, which is obviously very close to my heart.
Also, I want to finish by thanking everyone out there for the support that you have given me this year and, as always, for the messages that you send me. I, too, send you all my best wishes, not just for a happy festive season but also a healthy 2011.
Let's hope it's a great one!
Dec. 13, 2010
After the Nedbank Golf Challenge I took a week's vacation with the family, which was great, but it's time to tee it up again. This week is the 100th playing of the South African Open and we're back at the Durban Country Club, which has hosted our national championship more times than any other golf course. It's also where I won my third Open back in February 1998. This should be a great week for South African golf, for the players and the fans, and I'm very happy that I decided to play here.
And you know, I really want to try to perform well this week. In some ways this has been a year of two different halves. I came out of the blocks pretty fast and won twice in March during the Florida swing, but after the U.S. Open my game went off the boil and it's been a struggle to get things back on track. But, as I've said in my last few updates, during the last month or so there have been signs that the hard work I've put in has started to pay off. If I can roll the ball well on the greens this week, then I can finish the year on a high note and hopefully win my fifth national championship.
I'll obviously write again next week and give you the full story. Just now, though, I want to mention a couple of other good news stories for South African golf. Lee-Anne Pace last week secured the Order of Merit title on the Ladies European Tour, the first South African ever to do this, and I send my congratulations to her on this fine achievement. Just because the paths of the men's and ladies tours rarely cross, doesn't mean to say that us men folk don't know what's going on in the ladies game. Lee-Anne has done a great job this year, winning five times, and she thoroughly deserves her success. Hopefully this is a springboard to even greater things next year.
On the subject of junior golf in South Africa I want to say how proud I am that the 2011 Glacier Junior Series, featuring 30 one-day regional junior tournaments around the country and open to all members of the South African Junior Golf Foundation, will tee off on Jan. 5 with a tournament in honor of my mother Hettie. Fittingly it's taking place at Kempton Park, where I played most of my junior golf.
My mother has meant so much to me throughout my career. She's an amazing person and I wouldn't be where I am today if it weren't for her. Mothers are often the driving force behind the family and it's great that the Glacier Junior Series is honoring her in this way. I will lend my own further support to the series by sponsoring another tournament in the summer of 2011, this one bearing my own name and held at Oubaai, my first ever golf course design project in South Africa.
It means that this year there are going to be even more quality tournaments for our juniors to play in. And as we all know, that's how you improve -- basically, by playing well in a competitive environment. All in all, South African junior golf is in a healthy state, which is great news. That's where our future champions are made.
Anyway, that's about it for this week's report. Next week will be my last report of 2010 and a time for me to reflect on the year as a whole.
Bye for now.
Dec. 6, 2010
I was pleased I played in this year's Nedbank Golf Challenge because the guys put on a great show in the tournament's 30th anniversary year, but it was a frustrating week on the golf course for me. It was kind of strange. Every day I did something well -- whether it was driving the ball great, hitting my irons nice or making some putts -- but I just couldn't get it all going on the same day. It was close, but close isn't good enough, especially when Lee Westwood is playing the way he is. He deserves to be the No.1 player in the world right now.
So, let me talk you briefly through my week's play. Conditions were quite tricky on day one, with a swirling wind and a two-hour delay for lightning, but I hit the ball well and should have scored better than a 1-under par 71. It was the usual story, not making the putts. To be honest most of the time my stroke feels pretty good, but there's just that little spark missing. I spent some time with Mark McNulty, one of the greatest putters ever, and I bounced a few things off him and hopefully that's going to help me going forward into next year. I'm confident I can get something going.
Things were a bit better in the second round. I just made one mistake hitting it in the water on the par-3 fourth hole, but other than that it was a good day's play and I enjoyed it. You know, I hit a lot of good shots out there and made some putts, which felt nice. More of the same over the weekend would have been perfect.
As I said in my introduction, though, over the weekend I couldn't pull together all of the key elements of my game. I hit a lot of good shots from tee to green and I made a few putts here and there. But the consistency isn't there. In the end, 5-under par was a fair reflection of my form all week. I just want to say congratulations to Lee and to everyone involved in the tournament. They did a really great job.
Anyway, having said last week that the Nedbank was probably going to be my last tournament of 2010, I've had a change of heart and decided to play in the South African Open at the Durban Country Club starting on Dec. 16.. I won my third Open there in 1998 and it'll be good to tee it up again. I'm looking forward to it. My game is fundamentally in good shape and it would be great to end the year on a high note with victory in our national championship, especially since it's the 100th playing of the tournament and is obviously going to be a special occasion.
I'll talk more about that in next week's report.
Nov. 29, 2010
I'm literally just about to step on a plane out of Dubai and headed straight to South Africa for this week's Nedbank Challenge so I'll need to keep this week's report short and sweet. And actually that works out pretty well, because it was one of those tournaments where there really wasn't much to write home about, as they say.
To sum up the week as a whole I would simply say that I played nicely in stretches, but made too many mistakes and missed too many putts inside 10 feet. Every time I looked like getting some momentum, I'd kind of fall off the bus. The third round was typical. I worked hard to get myself to five-under par for the tournament and on the fringes of the top-10, but finished with a double-bogey seven on 18 to fall out of contention. The golfing gods obviously have a sense of humor, though, and the next day I made an eagle-three on 18. It's a crazy game sometimes.
Anyway, I'll have time later this year to write more fully about the 2010 season, but obviously I was looking for a stronger finish than this to my European Tour campaign. It meant I ended the year in seventh place on the Race to Dubai. As I said, though, I'll reflect on my season as a whole at some time in the next three or four weeks.
For now, let's concentrate on this week. Coming straight to Sun City from Dubai means I'll have time for a couple of practice rounds before Wednesday's pro-am and really get myself ready to play my best golf come Thursday morning. This is the 30th anniversary of the Nedbank Challenge and the organizers have invited some of the senior players from years gone by, which is a great idea. It gives the spectators an opportunity to see some of the game's golden oldies in action, and these guys still have some game, which adds a bit more magic to this already special event.
Me, I've been coming here for quite a large part of that 30-year history. I made my debut in 1992 and this year will be my 17th appearance. In that time I've won the tournament three times and twice finished runner-up in a playoff. I have to say it's a tournament that I look forward to. I mean, when you play in front of your home fans it is always special. I have the whole family with me this week, as well. And no doubt I'll be able to catch up with some old friends that I don't get a chance to see that often. It should be good and hopefully I can notch-up win No.4 in this tournament, and win No.4 of 2010, and end the year on a high note. That would be perfect.
Okay, that's it for now. Gotta fly!
Nov. 22, 2010
In last week's website report I pretty much filled you in on all the news from my time off in Florida, except to say that we hopped over to the Bahamas for a day to take a look around the Albany golf course prior to the official opening at the end of next month. As I was saying last week it looks great and the whole resort is fantastic -- really it's a very, very special place.
Also, the day before we went to the Bahamas the guys from Callaway came to see me to shoot some new television commercials. We do a bunch of these from time to time and Callaway has a team that really knows what it's doing. They are super professional and that makes all the difference from my point of view. I enjoy the whole process.
This week I'm traveling to Dubai for the Dubai World Championship on the Earth Course at Jumeirah Golf Estates. This is the European Tour's grand final, its Tour Championship if you like, and it's the culmination of 48 tournaments played in 26 destinations around the world. I'm sure it will be another great week here in the desert. Some sections of the media gave me a bit of a hard time last month, suggesting that I wasn't going to be here and that I didn't like the golf course. That was pure sensationalism. As a golf course designer, I would never criticize other people's work and the truth is I'm happy to be here supporting the European Tour and I'm looking forward to a strong week, because I feel like my game is in nice shape.
I've spent a couple of weeks at the house in Florida and the weather has been perfect, so that's given me opportunities to work hard on my game and get myself ready for this two-week stretch. I didn't do well in this tournament last year, I have to say mainly due to the fact that I was fighting a flu bug all week, but I'm expecting a lot better this time. I'll be staying in one of the villas at the Els Club Dubai, which in many ways feels like my home club away from home. You can discover more about the Els Club Dubai, and all of the courses in the Ernie Els Design portfolio, by clicking here.
Anyway, back to this week's golf tournament. I'm currently in sixth place on the Race to Dubai with just shy of 2 million euros in prize money for the season. That's over 1 million euros behind Martin Kaymer and Graeme McDowell, so even though the purse is huge this week there's no way I can catch those guys. Still, there's a lot to play for and potentially some decent world ranking points up for grabs. I finished third on the PGA TOUR money list this year and I believe the same position is achievable on the Race to Dubai, so that would be a good result. And obviously with this being my second-to-last tournament of the year I'd really like to finish on a high note.
I'll leave Dubai next Monday morning and head straight to Sun City for the Nedbank Challenge, but before I jump on the plane I'll make sure I find time to post my weekly website report.
Nov. 15, 2010
I just enjoyed a really nice week off at the house in Florida where I played some social golf and also spent time working on my game at the Bear's Club. It's like paradise here and at this time of the year I appreciate even more why we chose to switch our base from London to Palm Beach. The kids are in great schools, the weather is perfect and the facilities at the Bear's Club are just incredible.
To be honest, just being here I feel like I have more energy to work on my golf game. You wake up to blue skies pretty much every day and it makes you want to jump out of bed and get started. I usually go to the gym in the morning and then come straight to the golf course and hit balls for a couple of hours. After that I'll usually play a few holes. My game is right there and I try to focus on the fundamentals, as I have done throughout my career, to keep things on track and not slip into bad habits.
My putting is really coming along nicely, too. I talked about this in last week's report after the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions. Basically, my aim is to try to stick with one putter and, crucially, one method. I've extended the shaft of my putter to 36 inches and I'm standing a little taller than I have done for a while, which feels very comfortable and also helps me rock my shoulders and get a nice rhythm to my stroke.
And my plans this week are pretty much a carbon copy of last week. I can also drop into the business office, which is up and running now, and catch up with the team at Ernie Els Design. Things are going extremely well on that front. Albany in the Bahamas has just opened for play and it looks amazing. We created that golf course from nothing, literally a blank canvas, and to see it now in its finished state is very, very satisfying, indeed. The golf course has its official opening at the end of this year, which should be a pretty special occasion. The whole place is spectacular.
Ernie Els Design also has some exciting new projects in the pipeline, including a couple of new golf courses in Malaysia, and I'm going to drop in there for some site visits on the way to Dubai. That's an exciting growth region for our company.
Obviously I'm looking forward to visiting Dubai again for the Dubai World Championships, the final event on the 2010 Race to Dubai. I have been going to the Emirates for almost 20 years now and I have always enjoyed my experiences and the golf courses out there. It's a fantastic place. Then straight after the Dubai World Championships I'll fly to Sun City for the Nedbank Challenge. It's the tournament's 30th anniversary and the organizers have invited some of the senior players, which I think is a great idea. It gives the fans an opportunity to see some of the legends of the game and helps make a great week even better.
After the Nedbank, I'll probably be done for the year. It'll be very tough missing some great tournaments at the end of this year, but I need to think of my family, have some rest, and then get ready for Hawaii in the first week of January. The Hyundai Tournament of Champions features all the winners from this year and after that I'll hop over to Honolulu to play the Sony Open in Hawaii. I like starting my season with a two-week trip to Hawaii and I've enjoyed quite a lot of success there over the years.
Anyway, I'm getting ahead of myself here. We're still in November! As I said earlier in this report, I'll be staying here in Florida for the rest of this week. The weather is forecast to be sunny every day, with temperatures in the high-70s to low-80s, so I'll have plenty of opportunities to work on my game before I head over to Dubai. I'll write again early next week.
Nov. 8, 2010
OK, so it was another top-10 finish in the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions, my 11th of the 2010 season, but this was one of those rare tournaments where two players really separated themselves from the field. To be honest, the rest of us spent the final day just fighting it out for third place.
After a disappointing first round 72, where I felt like I played well enough to shoot in the 60s, things really took a turn for the better in Friday's second round. I hit it well off the tee, produced a lot of good iron shots and felt comfortable over my putts, too. A 7-under par 65 was the best score of the day, but it could have been even better because I left two or three nice-looking putts right in the jaws of the hole. Still, I was obviously happy with my day's work. Conditions were tougher than on day one and I scored seven shots better. Having been nowhere after one round, I was right back in the tournament after two rounds. I was looking forward to the weekend.
I made a slow start to my round on Saturday, though, which put me on the back foot a bit. Saying that, I was pleased with how I battled back. I recovered the three shots that I dropped early in my round and then got into red figures with a birdie at the last. This wasn't the round I had in mind at the start of the day and the leaders had kind of gotten away from the pack, but I knew if I could produce something like my final round performance in 2009 I might have a chance. It was a long shot but you never know.
One thing I needed was a fast start on Sunday and that didn't happen. Actually, it was a similar story to the previous day. I made a slow start to my round and then missed a few greens on the wrong side. It was a shame -- you know, that middle stretch of holes on the front nine really cost me over the weekend. But I kept plugging away. I was at least in the mix for the 'second' tournament that was going on out there. Meanwhile, Francesco (Molinari) and Lee (Westwood) were in a tournament of their own out front.
Looking at the week as a whole I can't be too disappointed. I made a few silly errors, which cost me bogeys but overall I like the way I played. Also, I changed putters after the first round and definitely felt more comfortable on the greens. Seriously, over the final 36 holes I had a ton of putts that burned the edge of the cup. What I need to do now is try to settle on one method and one putter and stick with that. I think standing tall, with a slightly longer-shafted putter, is the way to go. It felt good in Shanghai and also in Malaysia the week before, so I'll try to work on that in the time that I have before my next tournament.
I was thinking some more about my game on the plane home from Shanghai. Really, when I get some proper consistency on the greens I can start aiming high again. As everyone knows I have not had total confidence these past six months but it's coming back. It takes time, but I'm already looking forward to next season and I'm very excited about what I might be able to achieve. It's wide open at the top of the world rankings again and in my mind I feel that I can be a contender.
That's about it for now. I'll write next week and fill you in on all the latest news, including an update on my schedule for what's left of 2010.
Nov. 1, 2010
I was really pleased with the week overall at the inaugural CIMB Asia Pacific Classic, my first ever visit to Malaysia. The golf course and the setting were great and everybody -- the sponsors and the fans -- really got involved and made the players feel very welcome. I think from now on they can really take this tournament to the next level and more top players will eventually come. It's a great time of the year and there are so many good tournaments in Asia that you can play them as a group. A lot of the guys will see the appeal in that and might come and play this stretch in the future.
It was a great week also in the sense that my game was in really good shape, especially from tee to green. I'd say it's the best I've swung the club since the early part of this year and for most of the 72 holes I felt very much in control of my golf ball. I think there was a sense right from the start that this was going to be a pretty low scoring week. My only problem was I got off to a bit of a slow start in each of my first three rounds. Once I hit my stride, though, I felt very comfortable. I shot 9-under par for the first 54 holes and really it should have been a handful of shots better.
Then on Sunday I was really on fire from tee to green. I don't think I missed a green all day and I was hitting it great. Honestly, I had so many opportunities I could have won this thing, but around the turn the putts dried up. The finish was good, though, making four straight birdies to shoot 66. I left the golf course feeling really positive about my game. Yeah, maybe I could have made a few more putts, but it wasn't far away from being a winning week so I like my chances going into the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions.
Obviously, this is another big week for golf in Asia and it's becoming one of those tournaments that none of the top players wants to miss. I'm looking forward to it. It's a brilliant tournament golf course because the closing stretch is designed in such a way that it can create a lot of drama and excitement. I intend to be right in the mix again.
I was runner-up to Phil Mickelson here last year after shooting a 9-under-par 63 in the final round -- a great score tainted somewhat by a disappointing finish when I hit it in the water on No. 18 trying to cut a 5-wood from a severe downslope in the fairway. That cost me a tournament win, but overall that week was probably the best I played all year. I made 22 birdies and an eagle, including my ninth career hole-in-one, so the positives massively outweighed the negatives that week. For that reason I'm coming back to this golf course with some good memories and a positive mindset.
Basically, I'm starting out with a simple aim and that is to finish one place higher than last year. My game is definitely where it needs to be. As I said earlier, I'm swinging it the best I have for probably six months. If I can secure my second World Golf Championships title of the year, making four wins in total, I'll be more than happy.
As always I'll write and tell you all about it in next week's website report.
Oct. 25, 2010
This should be a very exciting week in more ways than one. As much as I've traveled in my 20 years as a professional golfer, this will be my first visit to this particular part of the world. And this week's CIMB Asia Pacific Classic, a new tournament on the schedule, is the first PGA TOUR-sanctioned event in this region. It's going to be quite a week and I'm really looking forward to it.
The tournament is being held at The Mines Resort & Golf Club, which as the name suggests, is on the site of what was once the world's largest open cast tin mine. From what I've heard the architect Robert Trent Jones Jr. has done a pretty amazing job. I saw some photos online last week and it looks quite impressive, with many of the holes adjacent to a huge lake.
The field this week is just 40 players, made up of 25 from the PGA TOUR, 10 from the Asian Tour and another five sponsors' exemptions. Obviously there's no halfway cut, so the whole field plays all four days, with a $6 million purse and $1 million first prize. As you'd expect, they have some strong players here including many of the recent Ryder Cup stars from both sides of the Atlantic.
After last week's win in the PGA Grand Slam of Golf, I'm coming in here feeling good about my game. I had a new driver in the bag in Bermuda, Callaway's latest Diablo Octane Tour, which goes on sale to the public in a few weeks' time. It features a new material called 'forged composite', which the Tour reps told me was developed with the help of Lamborghini -- so it appeals to the golfer and the petrol head in me! It felt great and I was definitely getting it out there a long way. I'm expecting to drive the ball very well again this week.
And I've got some positive putting vibes from last week's back-nine performance on the greens. In the practice rounds leading up to Thursday's first round I'll be working on exactly the same things. The key was I felt very comfortable over the ball and was striking my putts sweet and with good pace, a nice combination.
Anyway, if I can combine a good week off the tee with a good week on the greens I'll be a happy man. I'll tell you all about it in next week's report.
Bye for now.
Oct. 21, 2010
I really enjoyed my time in Bermuda playing in this year's PGA Grand Slam of Golf. It was my first time visiting this island and man, it's so beautiful it really lifts your spirits. The family was with me, too, and we all loved it. And winning this tournament for the second time was the cherry on the icing on the cake, to be honest.
We arrived in Bermuda at the weekend and the golfing action started with the pro-am on Monday, which strangely enough included an impromptu game of cricket on the 16th tee with the island's Premier, Dr. Ewart Brown, and West Indies cricket legend Brian Lara. That was a bit of fun and obviously Brian showed us no mercy and dispatched our best deliveries into the far distance. Fair enough.
My first round on Tuesday started promisingly when I holed a 20-footer for a birdie on the first green and then moved to 2-under par through five holes. After that, I felt like I left some shots out there, but on the flip side I made a couple of great par saves on Nos. 16 and 17 and then made a nice birdie at the last from the fairway bunker to shoot a 3-under-par 68. It left me in a good position, one shot behind David Toms. With a lovely golf course to play, great scenery, perfect weather and a big gallery with a lot of enthusiasm, it was all good. You can't ask for more than that, really.
As I said, I began the second round just one shot behind David and then promptly three-putted the first green, so that wasn't the best start. Basically I was fighting to close the gap all day, but conditions were tricky with a strong ocean breeze and birdies were hard to come by. Then when David chipped in on No. 12 for birdie and then again on No. 14 for par, I did kind of think 'hey, maybe he's destined to win this thing'. But I found a little something in my putting stroke on that back nine and suddenly the putts started to drop. I was just freewheeling and making birdies -- four in the space of six holes, including three in a row from the 14th onwards. And that swung the momentum my way, especially when David bogeyed No. 15.
What sealed it for me was a great up-and-down on No. 17, where I holed from about 15 feet, to keep my nose in front. I then made par on the last to shoot 69 to add to my first round 68 for a 5-under-par aggregate 137. In windy conditions, that was good scoring actually.
It was a really nice way to finish. I mean, I felt really comfortable over those putts, which is something I've been working on a lot in recent months, and I now want to try and take that feeling with me into my next few tournaments. There's been nothing wrong with my game these past few months -- you know, I just needed to make some putts. That's always what makes the difference.
Okay, so I'm playing in the CIMB Asia Pacific Classic next week, which will be my first ever visit to Malaysia, and then straight after that the HSBC Champions in Shanghai. I'm really looking forward to both of those tournaments and I'll write some more about that in Monday's website report.
Bye for now.
Oct. 11, 2010
Over the years the Dunhill Links Championship, run by my great friend Johann Rupert, has gone from strength to strength and this year's version was another wonderful week. I get the feeling the Scottish public has really warmed to the innovative format of this tournament and it is great to see so many people out there supporting us. The professionals really enjoy it and the amateurs love to be playing at the Home of Golf, rubbing shoulders with top players in a competitive environment. They don't get to do that in any sport other than golf, really.
Anyway, we all have a great time playing with one another, me especially as I get to play with my dad most years. That doesn't take away from it being a serious tournament, though, and like all the other professionals, I was out there to still focus on my game and really do my best.
As you know there is a three-course rotation over the first three rounds of this tournament and we were playing Kingsbarns for our first round on Thursday afternoon. You seriously could not have asked for a better day for golf -- blue skies and warm with a light breeze. It was a lovely day to be out on a links and I played pretty nicely. I felt like I left a few shots out there, but 70 was okay. And the way I hit the ball that day I was confident about the rest of the week.
For the second round we were on St Andrews Old Course, my favorite of the three courses we play in this tournament, and obviously I was looking forward to it so to shoot 74 was very disappointing. It was just a rough phase of play on the back nine that really hurt me. It meant I couldn't afford to slip-up at Carnoustie in round three, because I was on the cut-line of the top 60 players who make it through to the final day's play on the Old Course on Sunday.
Carnoustie is the toughest of the three courses we play here, there's no question about that. And conditions on Saturday didn't make it any easier. It was cold and the wind had picked up. Taking all that into account, a two-under par 70 was a decent round. I hit the ball well again, but the fact that I was too far back to mount a challenge on the leaders was a frustration. Any week I tee it up I really want to at least have a shot at winning going into the final round. To be honest, that just hasn't happened often enough in the last three or four months.
I played okay again on Sunday on the Old Course. Actually, I started great and got it to four-under par on the front nine. The cold wind was blowing hard though, and the back nine played tough. I could do no better than shoot my third 70 of the week and finish at four-under par for the tournament. It wasn't a great week of scoring for me but, as I said before, it was another very successful Dunhill Links Championship. I'll be back for more of the same next year.
Okay, so on to this week's events. I was hoping to be at Oubaai in South Africa for the final event of the Vodacom Business Origins of Golf series, but sadly my schedule just hasn't worked out for me. I'm disappointed to miss this event, because it's been a privilege and an honor to be selected as Vodacom Business' ambassador for this year's series. The Sunshine Tour is where it all began for me and obviously Oubaai is special to me, as it was my first ever golf course design project in South Africa. I'm proud of what we created there. It's a tough test and I know it will make a strong venue for this tournament. I wish the players, the organizers, officials and fans all the very best for a great week.
For me... well, at some point this week I'll make my way over to Bermuda for this year's PGA Grand Slam of Golf, which is being played at the stunning Port Royal Golf Club. I'm replacing Masters champion Phil Mickelson, who has had to pull out due to his diagnosis of psoriatic arthritis, and I will be teeing it up alongside this year's other major winners Louis Oosthuizen, Graeme McDowell and Martin Kaymer. I won this event in 1997 and I'm looking forward to playing in it again. It starts on Monday, so what I'll do is post next week's website diary a couple of days later than usual and that means I can include all the news from Bermuda.
Until then, bye for now.
Oct. 4, 2010
Obviously the first thing to touch on this week is our fantastic, new-look website. I have to tell you that the guys have put in a lot of hard work this summer to make it more attractive, more informative and basically designed in such a way that it helps me better interact and communicate with you golf fans out there. I really like the way it looks. I hope you do, too.
Anyway, moving on to other matters. Last week was pretty quiet back at the Els household in Florida. I just had one commitment at the start of the week, a day trip to Ridgefields Country Club in Tennessee for the Kresge Krew Charity Pro Am, run by fellow Tour pro Cliff Kresge. I played in the first of these tournaments last year, which netted over $100,000 for autism awareness, and I was keen to support Cliff again. We have a shared connection through autism in our families.
As I've said many times over the last few years, autism is a big problem in America and, indeed, all over the world. Liezl and I are trying to do our bit and Cliff and his wife also do a great job running this tournament and trying to raise some funds. We had some rain on the day, but that didn't dampen anyone's spirits. Cliff had lots of support from some of his fellow pros, everyone had some fun and, most importantly of all, we raised a lot more cash for a good cause.
As I post this report I'm just getting ready to leave the house and jump on the plane and head over to Scotland for this week's Alfred Dunhill Links Championship. This one's definitely a week for lovers of links golf, like me. We play on three great golf courses, the Old Course at St. Andrews, Carnoustie and Kingsbarns.
It's a pr-am format and, as I've done most times over the years I'm teaming up with my dad again. It's one of the best weeks of the year for us. It's a very special experience playing together in this. The golf is great and we get to stay at one of my favorite hotels in the world, the Old Course Hotel. The whole family is here with me, as well, and that's always a bonus.
Obviously, for the professionals this is a proper tournament and we're out there to win. But at the same time, the involvement of family and celebrities and stars from other sports makes the atmosphere very different to a regular tour event. It's definitely a little bit more relaxed and I try to embrace that.
The way it works is we play a round on each of the three courses over the first three days, and then the final round on Sunday is played on the Old Course. Although I haven't won here before, just a couple of near misses, I always feel optimistic coming into this tournament simply because, as I said, I love the challenge of links golf. It can get pretty cold on the east coast of Scotland at this time of the year, but we've brought our cold weather gear and woolly hats. We're ready for anything. It's always a fun week and I really enjoy it, even more so if Mother Nature is kind to us. We'll keep our fingers crossed on that front!
Okay, that's it for now. I'll write again next week.
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Sept. 27, 2010
When I rolled in a 20-footer for birdie on the first green at East Lake on Thursday, I thought that might be a good sign of things to come, but unfortunately I could hardly buy a putt for the next 53 holes. I hit the ball pretty well those first three rounds, but it was only on Sunday when I got my putter going that I felt like my score actually reflected the way I was playing. Obviously it was nice to shoot a best-of-the-day 65, and on what was the toughest day for scoring all week, but it was disappointing that I was so far back that I couldn't get myself into contention and give myself a chance of winning the tournament.
That's pretty much the sum of the week, to be honest -- hitting it good but not converting many of the opportunities that I gave myself. Tied-seventh in the Tour Championship means I ended up in ninth spot in the FedExCup, my best finish in the four years we've been playing this thing, but that's no great satisfaction to me. I went into the playoffs in first place on the points list and my goal was to win it. I just made that very difficult for myself with a couple of very average weeks in the first two tournaments, the Barclays and the Deutsche Bank.
There have been a lot more positives than negatives this year, though. I got back into the winner's circle twice early in the season and I've had a bunch of top-10s, which all together means I finished third in the 2010 money list, my best result on the PGA TOUR since 2004. Also my scoring average for the year, 69.79, is my lowest since 2004. I'll reflect more on the season a bit nearer the end of the year. There's still a fair bit to play for before we're all done for Christmas!
For sure, though, I'll always remember this year as being special after the news last week of being inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame. I was shocked and extremely honored when the call came through from Commissioner Finchem. I only told my family about it the night before I arrived at East Lake because I knew they wouldn't be able to keep it quiet, especially Samantha!
Obviously, this type of recognition makes you feel very good about what you've achieved in golf. Growing up I had my heroes in Gary Player, Nick Price, Greg Norman, Seve, Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer, guys like that, and every young kid wants to be like them. For me to be able to play it out in real life, and compete against and play with these guys, has been really thrilling.
My career on the PGA Tour goes back to the days when President Mandela got elected as president in South Africa after he got released from Robben Island. Since then time has flown by. When I look back, I think the defining moment was winning the U.S. Open in 1994. That really made me feel like I belonged out here and I've been fortunate enough to have a lot of other big wins since then.
There are many people who have been very supportive of me throughout my career. They know who they are and they are assured of my eternal gratitude. Golf is on face value an individual sport, but it's also a big team effort and this award is for them, too. There's a lot of people behind you, not least my family whose support has never wavered, Liezl especially. We've been together since 1993 and she's been amazing through the good times and also the struggles.
Anyway, I very much look forward to the induction ceremony in May. I'll be nervous, mainly about making the speech! But I know I'll enjoy it, too.
Okay, that's about it for this report. I've now got a week off at home and I'll just take it easy for a few days and then definitely watch the Ryder Cup this coming weekend. I enjoy that purely as a sports fan and, despite the fact that I have good friends on both sides of the Atlantic, I'll be pulling for Europe as I always do.
I'll write again next week.
Sept. 20, 2010
I spent last week at the house in Florida and the weather was just perfect. I took part in an SAP golf day on home turf here at the Bear's Club on Thursday, which was good fun. Other than that, as I predicted in my previous website report, I focused on putting in some hard hours on the practice ground. I'd like to think I could build on the momentum of the past few tournaments, where I did feel like my game was heading in the right direction and was getting close to where I would want it to be, and that I can put in a strong performance this week.
We're at East Lake Golf Club, home of the legendary Bobby Jones, located some five miles east of downtown Atlanta. This is the grand finale of not only the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup but also the PGA TOUR's regular schedule, which began in Hawaii almost nine months ago. Wow, the season always flies by so fast.
It's just the top 30 players teeing it up this week and it's a wide-open tournament, reflected by the fact that in the past nine years they've had nine different winners. That is quite surprising in such a limited field. This is my 15th appearance in THE TOUR Championship, although not all of them have been here at East Lake, and I've had a bunch of top-10s. I've only ever really come close to winning this thing once, though, losing out in a four-man playoff to Mike Weir in 2001.
To be honest, I didn't get the results I was looking for in the first three Playoffs events. Still, I'm coming into this week with my best chance yet of winning the FedExCup. I'm placed eighth in the points list, but only a win here is going to get the job done. And even then I'd need the top guys, mainly Dustin Johnson and Matt Kuchar, to do me a favour and finish down the leaderboard. Really, almost anything can happen this week, which I guess is the whole logic behind the points reset. It means the FedExCup goes right down to the wire.
I like the golf course and I've always felt that it kind of suits my eye. Last year I was in decent shape after two rounds after shooting 66 on Friday, but I didn't hit enough fairways over the weekend and that hurt my chances. The same start this year would be nice and then I've got to try to keep it in the short stuff and see if I can get myself in the mix on Sunday.
As I've said in a few of my recent website reports, hitting fairways has been not the strongest part of my game these past couple of months. But I've spent some time with the guys at Callaway and this week I've got a new driver in the bag, so that should hopefully turn things around and give me some confidence as I start my tournament preparations on Tuesday. The rough is going to be pretty juicy here and the greens are slick. I've just got to hit fairways and then obviously make my share of putts. It's the same old winning formula, really!
Anyway, that's about as much as I can say right now. I'll write again next week.
Sept. 14, 2010
As everyone knows my form did have a bit of a slide through the summer months and, to be honest, it's been a real battle to get it back to even close to where I'd want it to be. But the last couple of tournaments I felt like my game had definitely been heading in the right direction and last week's BMW Championship at Cog Hill was a pretty strong week... for 71 holes. I just spoiled it with a bit of a nightmare finish on 18 on Sunday afternoon.
On Thursday and Friday nothing spectacular happened, but scoring was tough. At one-under par for 36 holes I wasn't a million miles off the pace and I felt confident that I was playing well enough to shoot some good numbers over the weekend. That's exactly what happened on Saturday. I knew at the start of the day that I'd have to play well and try to find a score somewhere in the mid-60s. I played great and got it to five-under after 12 holes and then coming down the stretch I hit some sweet putts that burned the hole and stayed above ground. It could have been a seriously low round, but even so, 67 was a satisfying effort.
Sunday I just couldn't get any momentum going to threaten the leaders, but even so a par on the last would have probably given me a top-five finish on the week and that would have been a fair reflection of how I played. Making triple-bogey seven on your final hole obviously leaves a real sour taste in your mouth, but it didn't make any difference as regards to getting into the top-five on the FedExCup points list going into THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola. That was my goal at the start of the week, because the way the points reset works is anyone in that top-five who then wins THE TOUR Championship is guaranteed to win the FedExCup. I'm now placed eighth in points, so even if I win at East Lake my fate is in the hands of others. But I can't think like that. I have to go in there and take care of my own business.
You know, sometimes progress is slow in this game and being the type of person that I am it often feels like it's too slow. But if you learn one thing after 20 years in this profession it's the gift of patience. I know some of you must get tired of hearing golfers use that word, but out here on TOUR patience is often your best ally. I really do have to stay patient, trust what I'm doing technically with my golf swing, keep a positive mindset and believe that more wins will come.
I've got a week off now and I'll use my time wisely leading up to THE TOUR Championship. I know East Lake like the back of my own hand and I know what I want to work on to give myself the best chance of success there. I'll write again next Monday and tell you more about that.
Bye for now.
Sept. 7, 2010
To be honest with you, this year's Deutsche Bank Championship was a battle pretty much from start to finish. In my first round on Friday I was 2-over after 13 holes, but I managed to salvage something from the day with a birdie on No. 15 and then I holed my second shot on No. 17 from about 180 yards for an eagle. That was a nice little bonus. Would have been good to close the day with a birdie on the reachable par-5 18th as well, but hey, to get out of there with a one-under 70 was a decent result, because I really didn't play well.
Saturday was a completely different day and, I'm glad to say, much better in every way. I hit the ball better, managed my game better and putted better. It was a very comfortable round of golf and, you know, after a day like that you kind of wonder where your game has been the last couple of weeks. Anyway, the end result, a bogey-free four-under 67, jumped me almost 50 places up the leaderboard. That was exactly what I needed and I was excited about the last 36 holes.
I was paired with Tiger in Sunday's third round and basically just wanted to go out there and be aggressive, make some birdies and see if I could somehow get on to the tails of the leaders going into the final round. I started off nice, with back-to-back birdies on the first two holes, but it was very up and down after that. I hit some great shots, but there were times when it was so bad you almost had to laugh. But I hung in there and grinded it out. I ended up shooting 1-under par for the day. My putter saved me on Sunday, really.
Tiger had a similar day actually, although not quite as bad as me, and we kind of giggled about that when we shook hands on 18. It's always good to play with Tiger. We've been friends for a very long time now and it's nice to see him back on the road he should be in both his personal life and his professional life. I think it won't be too long before we see good things from him again.
So on to the final round, then. Monday finishes are pretty unusual on TOUR and I needed something out of the ordinary to elevate myself into the top-10. That was my goal at the start of the day. My front nine was crazy, though, with two birdies, three bogeys, a double bogey and three pars. But I got some rhythm back into my game around the turn and played the back nine in 3-under par for a round of 71 and a 6-under par aggregate to finish tied-30th.
That result dropped me down to seventh place in the FedExCup points list, but I'm only a win away from maybe going straight back to the No.1 spot so I'll see if I can get something going in this week's BMW Championship. I know it's there. My second round last Saturday proved that. I just need to find some consistency and some competitive rhythm.
We're at Cog Hill's No.4 course for this week's BMW, a great golf course on the outskirts of Chicago. They've had a brutal hot and humid summer, but I hear the guys have managed to get the course in good shape. It had a major renovation at the hands of Rees Jones in 2008 where they reconstructed all the greens and greens complexes, reshaped the fairways and repositioned all the bunkers. When we went back there for the 2009 BMW I thought they'd done a great job.
The course has almost a U.S. Open style feel to it and the challenge is much the same. You have just got to hit fairways. If you get out of position, you're going to get punished. My driver stats have not been good enough the last few tournaments and it's something that I have to improve on if I'm going to do well here. It's as simple as that. I have to step it up. I really want to play well this week.
As usual I'll write next Monday and tell you all about it.
Aug. 30, 2010
I was really looking forward to a good week at Ridgewood. I love what Barclays does in golf. They sponsor tournaments around the world and do such a great job, which I know is appreciated by all of the players. And I like these old, traditional style golf courses and coming to the New York area. The people here love their sport; they get very vocal at times and that always creates a lively atmosphere. Then I shot an easy 67 in the Pro-Am and was feeling great. Despite all the positive vibes, though, it turned out to be a disappointing week for me.
I didn't play great the first couple of days, but it was okay and I made a couple of sweet putts in my last two holes late on Friday afternoon when I knew exactly what I had to do to make the cut. At that stage the field was pretty bunched up, so I felt like I could push on and have a good finish. But over the weekend I played scrappy golf, to be honest. It's a tournament to forget, so I'll just move on.
Obviously I had a good start to the season, with a couple of early wins and then some decent top-10s and top-5s through the summer, which meant that I went into last week at the top of the FedExCup points' list. But now that we're in the PGA TOUR Playoffs, it's a whole new ball game. I mean, I made a little over 1,800 points the whole season and you get 2,500 just for winning one of these events.
A poor showing at the Barclays wasn't the end of the world, but I can't afford another week like that. As I said, the points system is so crazy that if you don't play well you're going to get left behind in a hurry, so it's important for me to bounce back and play well at this week's Deutsche Bank Championship. I'm in fifth place now and basically, I need to score big points to maintain my position at least near the top of the FedExCup list and therefore give myself a chance of winning this thing when we get to the Tour Championship. The race is really on.
We're back at TPC Boston again for this week's Deutsche Bank. It is an Arnold Palmer-designed golf course and opened for play barely 10 years ago, but you wouldn't know it. This place has a mature, almost traditional feel about it. It's in a beautiful setting, too, in the lovely New England landscape. I really like it.
It's tough to say whether the course favors any particular style of play. I'd say probably not. There are a lot of holes where you can be aggressive or you can play conservatively -- basically, there are a lot of choices out there. But I need to drive the ball better than I did last week at Ridgewood, because that part of my game more than any other was really hurting my ability to score.
Okay, that's it for now. I'll write again next week.
Aug. 23, 2010
The majors are done and dusted for another year, but there is still a lot to play for with the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup starting this week. Before this series was introduced in 2007 a lot of players would lie low, but not now. In fact, what used to be a quiet time of the year has a lot more buzz to it and you have to applaud the PGA TOUR for that. Any system that gets the best players in the world competing in four tournaments over a five-week period has to be seen in a very positive light.
To be honest, I felt like the first three years we played the FedExCup it kind of came and went without me making much of an impression on things. Obviously, I'm very keen to do a lot better this time around and I couldn't be in a stronger position. I go into this week's first playoff event, The Barclays, on top of the FedExCup points' list and raring to go after a week off at home last week.
My long game has been in good shape for a while now, but that's not been matched by the quality of my short game and really that's what's been hurting my scores the last few months. I spent a large part of last week trying to put that right. I mean, I really need to step it up to stand a chance of winning this thing.
The points won in these Playoff events are worth five times as much as the points accumulated in the majority of regular TOUR events, so things can change very quickly. Like I said before, I haven't properly figured in the FedExCup race the previous three seasons, so I feel extremely motivated right now. I started this year on the PGA TOUR on a high note and I really want to finish it in the same fashion.
For this week's Barclays we're back at the venue for the 2008 tournament, Ridgewood Country Club in New Jersey, which is a Tillinghast design and in some ways has a similar look and feel to layouts such as Baltusrol and Winged Foot. They are two of my favourite courses in America and, although I played very poorly here two years ago to miss the cut, I'm not reading anything into that.
Basically I'm looking forward to playing the course again. I feel like I can do well around here. I need to drive the ball well, because accuracy off the tee on a lot of these tree-lined fairways is a key factor. That then sets you up nicely for your approach shots into the greens, which are typically not that large and also have quite severe slopes. It's a very fair, solid test of golf.
I'm sure most of you reading this pretty much have a handle on the way the FedExCup works by now, but here's a quick recap. The top 125 players on the points list will be in the field for this week's Barclays. Then the starting line-up is reduced to the top-100 players for the following week's Deutsche Bank, then the top 70 players for the BMW Championship and finally the top-30 players make it through to the THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola at the end of September.
I'll write again next week and fill you in on all the latest news.
Bye for now.
Aug. 16, 2010
I was very excited about this year's PGA Championship being back at Whistling Straits, a golf course that I'd really enjoyed and played well on when we were here in 2004. And I couldn't have made a better start to my challenge. I birdied the first hole on Thursday and went bogey free for the full 18 holes to shoot 68 and be just one shot off the lead. I played really well; in fact, it was probably one of my best rounds of the year in terms of how my swing felt, my all round ball striking and the feeling of being in control of my golf game. After that, though, I just wasn't as sharp overall as I was on that first afternoon of the championship.
Thursday was a difficult day. The wind blew strong and, with the interruptions in play due to early morning fog, maybe I was a little tired having been up since 4.30 a.m. I couldn't get into a steady rhythm. But I scrambled well and I would have taken everything about my day's play other than the finish, a double-bogey six on my final hole to shoot 74. Still, there was plenty of golf left to play. I was 2 under and 8 under was leading, so I needed a good weekend.
Whistling Straits is the type of golf course where you're going to miss greens, especially on the final day when the wind blew stronger than it had all week, so I needed to scramble well and then capitalize on my good shots. I managed the second part of that, but there were a few too many bogeys thrown into the mix for me to challenge for a win. Every time I took two steps up the leaderboard, I seemed to straight away take another step back down. That was the story of my last two rounds, basically. It meant the best I could do was progress to 4 under for the tournament and into a tie for 18th place.
Before I say anything else I want to just take a moment to congratulate young Martin Kaymer on his first major victory, which is such a special moment in your career. I played with him a couple of years ago during the Desert Swing and I remember saying to everyone 'you have to watch this kid play, he's really going to be something'. He's got incredible talent and a cool head on his shoulders.
For me, to be honest, it wasn't far off being a very good week and I'm certainly not disheartened by my play. The long game is in good shape and I'm hitting a lot of strong golf shots and giving myself opportunities to score well. All I need to do is just smooth out a few of the rough edges in my game -- you know, eliminate a few mistakes and try to be a bit sharper on and around the greens.
That will be the focus of my practice sessions over the next six or seven days. I've got the whole of this week off and I want to work hard on my short game and get myself in the right mindset for the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup. I've held on to my place on top of the points list and also the money List, so if I can play well for the next three or four weeks it could be a great end to the season. As I've said before, I'm going to keep pushing myself and give it my maximum effort.
Okay, that's it for now. I'll write again next Monday.
Aug. 9, 2010
I don't want one bad round to dampen my spirits going into this week's PGA Championship, because I played a lot of really good golf in the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational last week. My swing felt pretty comfortable, I was in control of my golf ball especially on Friday and Saturday, and I started to get the putter going as well. I just had a horrible day on the greens on Sunday. It was very frustrating, but as I said, I'm going to put it behind me and focus on the positives. There were plenty.
In Thursday's first round conditions were good and the course was playing a bit softer than we usually see it, which meant it was easier to hit some of the sloping fairways and set up some good approach shots. Starting on the 10th I played very solid golf for my first 10 holes and was 2-under par at the turn. I made a couple of mistakes on the front nine, my back nine, but 69 wasn't a bad start even though it really should have been a few shots less. It was a decent platform to build on.
Friday I was among the late starters and I played solidly, but made nothing on the greens. Really, 70 was the worst score I could have shot. I had a think about it after my round and decided to switch putters. I carry two Odyssey putters with me every week; one has a slightly harder insert than the other and that's the one I felt like I wanted to go with for the weekend. It's got a little more 'pop' on the ball and comes off the face a bit quicker and that made a real difference on Saturday.
I played well again, just like I did on Friday, but the difference was I got the ball rolling at the hole and made some putts. Every golfer knows the feeling -- you make a couple of putts early on and suddenly the hole seems bigger. It's a nice state of mind and I was able to make more of the opportunities I gave myself. I think I had 25 putts compared to 29 the first couple of days and that's what you have to do to shoot low numbers. It was a very comfortable 66.
Sunday... well, what can I say? I made a beautiful start to my round, hitting it to 10 feet on the first green and pouring a tricky downhill left-to-right putt into the middle of the cup. But I three-putted the second hole for a par 5 and missed a short putt for par on the very next green and I think it knocked me out of my rhythm a bit. The round kind of got away from me after that.
Despite that, I achieved a lot of the things I had in mind going into the Bridgestone Invitational. Having played very poorly in Europe I felt a sense of urgency -- you know, a desire to find some form. I had two weeks off after the Open, which was just what I needed, and then put in two days of intensive practice. Firestone is a big golf course and I figured if I could play well there I'd be able to carry some confidence into the PGA. Okay, Firestone is a very different golf course to what we face this week at Whistling Straits, but it was the perfect week to get something going and in many respects that's what I did.
So here we are then in the final major championship of the year. And what a golf course! Seriously, what Pete Dye did here at Whistling Straits is incredible. This was a flat and featureless piece of land only 15 years ago and somehow Pete has fashioned the best imitation of a natural links golf course that you'll see in the United States. His brief was to create something along the lines of Ballybunion or Royal Portrush. Amazingly, you'd have to say Pete fulfilled that brief. It looks wild and rugged and shows what a great designer he is.
I'm a big fan of this golf course. There are quite a few blind shots and you have to figure out your own way of getting around here and use your imagination. At over 7,500 yards it's a proper test of golf, one where par really means something. I like that. And when the wind starts to blow off the lake, as it did in the final round of the 2004 PGA, it's brutal. One thing's for sure if you're wild off the tee, you're not going to be in the frame...not a chance.
I played really well here six years ago and had a chance to win, but got unlucky on the final hole when my tee shot ran out of fairway by a couple of paces and I found a horrible lie. I managed to get it on the front-right edge of the green, but had a monster, roller-coaster putt and didn't get down in two. I ended up missing the playoff by one shot. After the way I played for 54 holes last week, I feel like my game is good enough to get into contention again come Sunday afternoon.
Including the Bridgestone Invitational I'm scheduled to play six of the next seven weeks. It's a big couple of months' golf and I need to play well. That's my sole focus right now.
Okay, that's it for this report. I'll write again soon.
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Aug. 2, 2010
This is the start of a big fortnight of golf coming up with the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational this week followed by the final major of the year at Whistling Straits next week. But more than that, it's a big few months for me. After my two wins in the Florida swing, plus a couple of top-10s since then, I've got myself into a strong position leading the FedExCup points list, the PGA TOUR money list and the scoring averages. I really want to push hard and give it the maximum effort between now and THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola at the end of September. Overall it's been a good year; I feel like I still have an opportunity to turn it into a great year.
Let's take just one tournament at a time, though. This week's Bridgestone Invitational is played on the South Course at Firestone Country Club on the outskirts of Akron, Ohio. It is a golf course we TOUR pros know well. They've been hosting tournaments here for over five decades, so they've got the hang of this, to say the least! It's a really good venue. At 7,400 yards, the golf course is a pretty strict par 70, so you don't tend to get super-low scores. It has some tough, long par 4s and one of the longest par 5s in golf, the 16th, which is over 660 yards.
I've played steady golf here over the years, with a couple of top-10s, but I've never done anything that spectacular. When I think about it there's really no reason why that should be the case. I mean, I like the golf course and I've shot good scores around here, so let's just see how we go this week.
As I said in my last website report, aside from a strong week at Pebble Beach things just haven't been happening for me on the golf course the past four or five tournaments. It's been frustrating, I have to admit, but I just need to stay patient and keep plugging away. I've been hitting it pretty well from tee to green and eventually my scores will start to reflect that ... and hopefully it starts this week.
Okay, that's it for now. I'll write again next Monday.
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July 26, 2010
Straight after the Open Championship at St Andrews I flew the family down to Portugal's Algarve region for a week's holiday. We stayed at Quinta do Lago, which is a fantastic golf resort, and rented a lovely villa overlooking one of the golf courses there. I chilled out with Liezl and the kids, we swam every day and went to the beach and I also played a bit of social golf. We had a very nice time together.
Then at the weekend I flew down to South Africa and I'll be here for the rest of this week. The weather in Cape Town right now is just perfect -- today was lovely and sunny with temperatures in the low 20s Centigrade. I met with the team at the Ernie Els Wines Vineyard. Everything is going really well there and I did some tastings with the head winemaker Louis Strydom.
Later this week I'll meet up with the guys from Ernie Els Design and visit some of the golf courses that are currently under construction. That's always an interesting exercise and is something that I very much like to be involved with throughout the build process. The team also has discussions with clients for some potential new exciting golf course projects. It'll be a busy week, but I'll find some time to catch up with family and friends, too.
Then come the weekend I'll obviously turn my attentions to my next tournament, which is the WGC -- Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone in Ohio, and that is followed straight away by the PGA Championship at Whistling Straits. That's a big couple of weeks' golf and I'm very much looking forward to it.
You know, in many ways it's been a pretty frustrating couple of months for me. I'd say I've got a bit unlucky with the weather in a couple of tournaments. But from a general standpoint, for some reason, I've not been scoring as well as I've been hitting it. Golf is like that sometimes. I really need to start making something happen again, though, and I'm determined to do that sooner rather than later.
Okay, that's it. I'll write again when I get to Firestone early next week.
Bye for now.
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July 19, 2010
Before I talk about my Open week, I take great pleasure in congratulating Louis Oosthuizen on his fantastic victory. Honestly, it could not have happened to a better person. I played a practice round with him last Sunday and, typical for him, he didn't give himself a chance. He is a quiet and unassuming guy, but he has shown everyone what a great champion he is. I was very honoured that he thanked me in his victory speech, but he didn't have to do that. The way he has made use of his opportunities since leaving our Foundation will always be thanks enough. I don't think I have ever been so proud!
In starting the Ernie Els & Fancourt Foundation I wanted to give talented young golfers the same opportunities that I was given. This has exceeded my greatest expectations. Where, in your whole life, could you hope for a better story? Louis has shown what can be done. This will do so much for our members, past, present and future.
I would also like to thank all the staff, my family and the Board of the Foundation for the wonderful work that they do. In a way, this shows that we are doing the right thing and it shows that there are systems in place in South Africa golf that really work. We now have a fantastic group of young South Africans who are carrying the flag.
For me personally, going into St. Andrews I felt like I had a great chance. I prepared well and physically I felt really good. You know, I felt like my game was right where I needed it to be for links golf. But this golf course tends to throw surprises at you all the time and what we had to play in Friday afternoon was about as tough as it gets. That's the luck of the draw, I guess.
On Thursday conditions were so benign, I don't think I've ever seen the Old Course so calm. It was one of those days where a low score was there for the taking. I think I was almost too aggressive and went chasing some pins and when you do that on this golf course it's easy to catch a few slopes and make life quite tricky on and around the greens. But it was a nice clean card at the end of the day, three birdies and no bogeys. 69 is never a bad start to an Open.
Being out in the afternoon on Friday conditions were a lot, lot tougher, though. I think it's probably the strongest wind I've ever experienced. After we'd played a couple of holes the R&A pulled us off the golf course for an hour, because it was unplayable. Balls were literally blowing around on the greens. But to be honest, when we went back out there it didn't seem to me that the wind had dropped all that much and it blew hard for the rest of the day, basically.
It was all about just trying to survive and try to make pars. I pride myself on my ability to play in tough conditions, but this was something else. I got my head down and gave it my best, but it was so tough getting the ball in the hole and shots just kept slipping through my fingers. I was bitterly disappointed to miss the cut, but what can you do? It was just a very, very difficult day.
That disappointment soon turned to pride over the weekend, though. I'm so pleased for Louis and, as I said before, it couldn't have happened to a better person. What he's done will inspire so many kids back home in South Africa.
Okay, that's about it for this report. I'm on holiday in Portugal with the family for the rest of this week, which will be nice. I'll write again next Monday.
Bye for now.
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July 5, 2010
I spent some good time working on my game last week and then had a quiet weekend at the house, basically chilling out with the family and watching some sport on television. There's so much good stuff on at the moment that for any sports' fans, me included, you're almost spoiled for choice. I love it.
Then first thing Monday morning I jumped on a plane at Farnborough Airport for the one-hour flight across to Shannon Airport in Ireland for the J.P. McManus Invitational Pro-Am, which takes place today and tomorrow at Adare Manor. I've actually just got off the plane and I'm posting this report while I wait for a helicopter to take me to the golf course, so I'd better be quick.
It should be a good couple of days. The event has 54 teams of four, each made up of a professional and three amateurs. The fact that J.P. has attracted 11 of the world's top-15 golfers and 14 major champions, right in the middle of the busiest time of the golfing season, says all you need to know about JP. He is a quiet and very modest man but he does a lot for the community.
The event is played only once every five years, but already has raised more than 55 million Euro for various charities. That kind of money changes a lot of peoples' lives. Like all of the players taking part this week, I'm happy to be here and I'm looking forward to two days of good golf and great company.
Then on Wednesday morning I'll arrive at Loch Lomond for this week's Barclays Scottish Open. This is one of the most beautiful settings in golf and I always look forward to teeing it up here. Everything about the tournament is really as good as it gets in golf. It's a fantastic golf course always in incredible condition, the tournament has a great sponsor, and the Scottish people are probably the most knowledgeable golf fans in the world. It really is a special place for me and for the family and we all love coming back here every year. Also, it feels nice and relaxed away from the golf course, which I always like.
Although some players prefer not to play an inland golf course the week before the Open Championship, personally it's not something that I've ever seen as an issue. Besides, I'll be at St. Andrews early next week and that gives me plenty of time to get tuned in to the challenge of links golf. And remember St. Andrews is a golf course that I play every year in the Dunhill Links Championship, so I know every little bump, hump and hollow like the back of my hand. I feel very comfortable there, very much at home on the Old Course.
I feel very much at home at Loch Lomond, too. I'm the only player who has won this tournament twice and obviously I'd love to make it three times. I'll write again next week and tell you all about it.
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June 28, 2010
I was very disappointed to miss the cut in last week's BMW International Open and it's even worse when you miss by just one shot. Obviously I tried my best and actually I played okay for the most part, finishing at 2-under par for the 36 holes. I think the previous week's U.S. Open had taken a bit more out of me than I realized, though. In the end I just ran out of gas, more mentally than anything else, and made some soft errors. No excuses, though. I should have done better.
This is a great time of the year for sports' lovers. I've enjoyed watching some games from the World Cup back home in South Africa. For me personally, it was a shame to see England go out. Although the score looked comfortable, you know it could have been a different story if the England goal hadn't been disallowed just before halftime. It's hard to believe that FIFA took the decision this year to put plans for goal-line technology on hold. It's worked well in rugby internationals. Maybe an incident like this is what it takes to prompt FIFA to change its mind.
Anyway, there's some really good cricket on at the moment, as well. And I love watching the tennis at Wimbledon. Liezl and I are going there one day this week and I'm really looking forward to it. It's one my favorite days out of the year.
The weather here in England is incredible at the moment and I hear it's set fair for the rest of this week, so that's good news. I'll play some golf, definitely. Also it'll be fun to spend some time in the pool with the kids. We'll probably have a few barbeques and basically make the most of the sunshine while we can.
I'll fly out to Adare Manor in Limerick for the J.P. McManus Invitational Pro-Am on Monday and Tuesday. I've known J.P. for quite some time, since the early 1990s. He's a very quiet guy, a very modest man, but he does so much for the community and for charity. He hosts this pro-am every five years and it raises a lot of money for some very worthy causes; I think already it's in excess of 55 million euro, which is fantastic. There are a lot of top players involved this year, flying in from all over the world, so it should be a great couple of days. We get looked after well and there are a couple of nice dinners in the evening, so I'm looking forward to it.
When that finishes on Tuesday I'll fly over to another beautiful part of the world, Loch Lomond for the Barclays Scottish Open. Then straight after that it's the Open Championship at St. Andrews. It's one of my favorite fortnights on the golfing calendar and if the sun shines for those two tournaments, there's nothing better.
Okay, that's it for now. I'll write again next week.
June 21, 2010
As soon as I arrived at Pebble Beach last week I liked my chances. I worked extremely hard coming in and I was comfortable that my game was right where I needed it to be for a major championship. And I love this golf course -- it's almost like links golf on steroids. It was playing firm and fast all week, which are conditions I always relish. The greens weren't what you'd call perfect, but other than that it was one of the better U.S. Open set-ups that I've seen. Level par was always looking like it would be a great score and that's how it turned out.
The first day I was out late in the day with Lee Westwood and Tiger and it's fair to say that we all struggled a little bit on the greens, which were very bumpy. I didn't hit the ball great, either. So that wasn't the best combination. In the circumstances, a 2-over par 73 wasn't that bad. After my round I went straight to the practice green and worked hard on my putting and managed to sort a few things out. By the end of the day I felt a lot happier.
Then on Friday I went out there and played much better and shot a 3-under par 68. I was very pleased with that. I felt more comfortable with my golf swing and hit the ball nicely. The greens were smoother as well and I was able to make a few more putts than I had in the previous round. At the start of the day's play I knew I needed something in red figures to get me back in the thick of the tournament, so in that sense it was a job well done. I couldn't wait for the weekend. I felt calm and I liked my position in the tournament.
On Saturday I thought we had it quite difficult out there. It was windy and the greens were very firm and quite bumpy again. I had one of those days where I played okay but felt like I didn't get a lot of momentum in my round; it was like I was fighting to save par all day. A 72 wasn't a disaster, though. And despite Dustin Johnson being so far ahead at the top of the leaderboard I felt like I still had a decent shot.
Do my two previous U.S. Open wins help in situations like this? Yes, I think so. Obviously it's been a long time since I won one of these things, but the memories are fresh in my mind. I knew what I had to do. I needed to play a good round of golf, make some birdies early on and then try to have a solid finish.
The first part of that plan worked like a dream. I made a really good start and got to three-under par for my round in the space of six holes. The turning point was going into the back nine, where I'll be honest -- I hit a couple of loose shots, but there were also crucial moments where I hit good shots and just didn't get the breaks that I needed. You know, a couple of bounces here and there and it could have been a different story. I had some chances coming down the stretch, but I wasn't able to convert. I guess a handful of other players could say the same thing. That's major championship golf. It's always won or lost by the tiniest of margins.
I'm disappointed, because any time you have a chance to win a major and don't it's obviously a huge let down. But there were a lot of positives for me at Pebble Beach. I hit the ball nicely for pretty much the whole week and felt comfortable right there in the mix on Sunday afternoon.
And if I look at where I am this year, I'm happy. I'm feeling good again, feeling quite calm. I'm 40 years old and my game is right there. I've got three majors already and I like to think I can add to that and win a couple more. Last week at Pebble Beach just reaffirms that I'm where I need to be. I just have to stay patient, keep working hard and more opportunities will come my way. I love this time of the year and right now I feel like I can win any time I tee it up.
Anyway, that's it for this week's report. I've entered the BMW International Open this week in Munich, so I'll take a day's rest and then fly over there probably on Tuesday morning. I'll write next Monday and tell you all about it.
Bye for now.
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June 14, 2010
Last week worked out really well for me. I was at the house in Florida for a few days and basically just worked on my golf game and went to the gym every day. Then my dad came over and we had a bit of a father-and-son golfing mini-break and played every day on some fantastic courses here in Florida. It was a lovely way to spend a few days with my dad and actually I also felt like it was a nice, chilled way to prepare for this week's U.S. Open.
I flew across to Pebble Beach from West Palm Beach on Sunday morning, got myself settled into the house we're renting this week and then went to the golf course after lunch and played a practice round with Charl Schwartzel. My first impressions are that the golf course is in fantastic shape. The weather was ideal on Sunday and hopefully we can get more of the same this week.
I did some homework on the golf course last week, but obviously there's no substitute for getting here and seeing it with your own eyes. It was interesting to look at some of the changes that have been made to the golf course since I was last here 10 years ago. They've changed some of the fairways and the bunkering. There are new tee boxes at 9, 10 and 13 and they are very different to what they were in the last U.S. Open. The 10th tee in particular was way back. I think if the wind gets up they'll have to be careful with that one.
My biggest thing, certainly in the next couple of days, is figuring out the greens again. I spent a lot of time during my practice round on Sunday just playing a variety of little shots from the fringes of the greens and the greenside bunkers. I'll do the same the next couple of days, too. The greens are small here at Pebble and they are also set-up very firm for this championship. If you're on the wrong side anywhere it can be really tough to save par.
Heading into Thursday I'll also work on my fundamentals and make sure I've got my set-up in perfect shape. As I explained earlier in the year, that's a key part of my game and when I get the basics right I often play my best golf. And obviously during practice rounds I'll be working on my shot-making and figuring out a strategy for each hole. You need to be able to work your golf ball to score well around Pebble and I can see myself hitting some little cut-fade shots, which I often like to do on these types of golf course.
I'm a big fan of Pebble Beach and it's no surprise to me that it often gets voted the most beautiful golf course in the world. From a player's perspective, everything is right there in front of you and it's a tough but fair test of golf. You need to be careful and play very smart on the cliff-side holes, but elsewhere on the golf course there are opportunities to be a bit more aggressive and make some birdies here and there. I like the balance. I think itâ's just about perfect.
I'm paired in the first two rounds with Tiger and Lee Westwood, who won on the weekend here in the U.S., so I think it's fair to say that we're going to pull some decent crowds around with us! Actually, I think the atmosphere will be incredible. I really can't wait to get started on Thursday.
Okay, that's it for now. I'll write again next week and tell you all about it.
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June 7, 2010
I went into last week's Memorial Tournament feeling pretty upbeat about my chances, but it turned out to be a tough couple of days and I ended up missing the cut by one shot. To be honest, it was very frustrating. I haven't worked out the numbers exactly, but I hit a lot of fairways and something like 80 percent of greens, but I hardly made a putt. That'll test your patience, I can tell you.
Actually, my first nine holes on Thursday I did make a couple of putts and got to the turn in 3-under par. I was cruising, really. Then coming home I missed some greens in tight spots and couldn't save par. It wasn't as bad as it looked on the scorecard -- in fact, it was just tiny margins in a lot of instances, but it all added up to 74, 2-over par. I had a lot to do on Friday.
In the second round I played well enough to shoot comfortably in the 60s and could have easily made the cut, but as I said in my introduction I holed nothing on the greens. I can't believe I ended up shooting only level par, but there you go. That's the game of golf. It'll bang your head against the wall sometimes.
It's disappointing obviously, not just because the Memorial is one of my favorite tournaments of the year but also because my practice sessions are good. It's just these past few weeks I've not been putting it all together on the golf course. That'll turn around soon enough, though. And looking at the bigger picture I've had a mostly positive start to 2010, with a couple of wins. I'm top of the FedExCup and top of the money list. I'm really in nice shape still to have a great season.
My next tournament is the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach and I'm really excited about that. I don't play the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am at the start of the season, so this will be my first trip back to Pebble since the U.S. Open 10 years ago. I'll write again next week and tell you more in my build-up. In the meantime, I'll be working hard on my game this week. I've also got a few magazine articles to read, outlining some of the changes they've made to Pebble Beach since I was last there, which will be interesting and also quite inspiring.
Bye for now.
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May 31, 2010
After getting back from last week's BMW PGA Championship I had a good week at the house in Florida. My main priority was to take it easy for a couple of days, then get to work on my game leading up to the weekend. That's exactly what I did. I feel like I'm hitting the ball very nicely, so I focused mainly on my chipping and my putting. I also did some work on my bunker play, because in my last three tournaments at TPC Sawgrass, Texas and Wentworth, the sand was very different every week and I think my bunker play suffered a little bit as a result of that. I got that straightened out pretty quick, though.
I'll put in another hard days' practice at home this Monday and then travel to Ohio on Tuesday morning for Jack's tournament, the Memorial at Muirfield Village, and I'll start things off by probably playing nine holes in the afternoon.
I have good vibes whenever I go back here. I won the tournament in 2004 and really from my first ever appearance here in 1994 it became one of my top-few favorite events of the year. Nothing's going to change my mind about that. They put on a really good show for us and I always love coming here.
Jack did a fantastic job with the design. In my opinion, it's probably the best golf course that we play on the PGA TOUR and the way the guys set it up is just perfect. Jack obviously has a world of experience as a golf course architect, but he's also in the position of having been a great, great player and therefore he can see things through a professional player's eyes, too.
Jack wants the players to feel challenged by the course and, because he prides himself on quality, he also wants it to be in perfect shape. And this golf course is perfect in every way -- the greens, the fairways, the bunkers, the way the tees are mown; basically everything. It's one of the best-conditioned courses that we play on all year and it is a joy to play on. The practice facilities are superb, as well.
Design-wise I think it suits my eye and the way I see shots and like to shape my shots. It's funny how some courses do that to you and then there are others where it's the total opposite. One of the things I really like about Muirfield Village is the fairways are quite generous, so I feel like I can freewheel it with my driver and really get it out there. Distance is an asset on this golf course; for that reason I tend to be fairly aggressive off the tee.
Going into the greens is where you can be quite creative, shaping your shots depending on the wind or the pin position. If you can give yourself plenty of opportunities, you can make some putts here because the greens are flawless. I had one of the best putting weeks of my life when I won in 2004; just 100 putts for four rounds, which I think is still a record for this tournament.
Obviously I'll draw on all the good memories I have from playing here over the years and hopefully I can get the putter hot again. As always on the PGA TOUR, that's the key to turning a good, solid week into a winning week.
I'll write again next week and tell you all about it.
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May 24, 2010
It was a busy week to say the least but I want to look at the great positive stories from the tournament. We had glorious weather all week, which really helped the course bloom and ensured that it looked great to players and spectators alike. There were also record crowds who seemed to love every minute. I had some good support and feedback from many of them and have received some nice emails from spectators who attended about the course and the changes.
Overall, I think the golf course played great. The greens especially putted beautifully. This is not the best time of year for Surrey golf courses, especially after a tough winter like we've had this year, but by changing the type of grass on the greens we've provided much better surfaces to putt on. That's one of the many benefits of the recent renovations.
The guys on the committee set the course up just as we wanted it and offered the shot values that we felt were correct. It's a shot makers golf course, basically. There are opportunities to make birdies if you hit good golf shots, as we saw from some of the scoring out there all week. There are also some places where you can drop shots if you're not in the right spots. I think the balance is about right. It's a very fair test of golf.
Obviously I took on board some of the comments from the players about certain aspects of the golf course, although I have to say I was disappointed that some of my friends and colleagues chose to express their views to the media rather than coming to me first. As we have said, I will sit down with Richard Caring and the rest of the team to reflect on and review everything we have learned and I also intend to look at the scoring stats for the week, which I think will be quite revealing. But now is not the time for discussing all of this, aside to say that I was impressed with how Richard spoke to the media and made clear the situation. Together we'll take whatever steps are necessary to further cement Wentworth's reputation as the finest inland golf course in Europe.
So, let me talk you through my golf. I was off early on Thursday and it was the most perfect morning for golf. Seriously, when the weather is that good in England, you just love playing golf. Anyway, I hit the ball beautifully all day, especially off the tee. It was what I'd call a very comfortable round of golf -- no major mistakes and a lot of birdie opportunities. I'd got it to 3-under par after 17 holes and hit it in the perfect spot on No. 18. It was a straightforward 5-wood shot, but I didn't make a great swing and dragged it into the water hazard. I wasn't too happy about that, obviously, but 69 was still a decent start.
In Friday's second round I made a really good start and got to 5 under for the tournament in pretty quick time. I just misread a couple of putts around the turn, which cost me. And then the back nine played really tough. I made some great up-and-downs from tight spots and then on No. 18 hit a perfect 7-iron into the heart of the green to give myself a chance of an eagle. It would have been nice to slot that one home, but still, birdie was a good way to finish and in the end 70 wasn't a bad score. I was fairly satisfied with that.
I was in pretty good shape going into the weekend, but both days I didn't really bring my A-game to the course. Saying that, I think it was one of those situations where I played better than I scored. It was just that I made a few mistakes and got severely punished, especially on Saturday. But this is a championship golf course and I think you have to expect that. My putter went a little cold on me as well, which doesn't do your scorecard any favors.
I came here to win so in that sense it was a disappointing weekend for me personally, but as I said earlier this was still a great week for European golf. The guys at Wentworth and the European Tour put on a great show for everyone. And BMW announced that it has extended its sponsorship of this tournament for another four years, which is fantastic news in these tough economic times.
Finally, many congratulations to Simon Khan, who played a great last round and deserved to win. I know this tournament really means a lot to him and he has a lot of special memories from coming here as a kid and watching guys like Seve and Faldo. Well, now he joins them as a winner of the PGA. He'll enjoy that!
Okay, that's it for this update. I travel back to Florida on Monday morning and I've got this week off. I'll write again next Monday just before I head off to Muirfield Village for Jack's tournament, the Memorial.
Bye for now.
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May 17, 2010
This was my first ever appearance in the Valero Texas Open, and also it was a new golf course for everyone. I think Greg Norman has done a great job with the design. It's the kind of course where if you get out of position you can make a big number. I liked the fact that it was a tough test and that you had to be very accurate and also very creative. Every green was different, with a lot of run-off areas, and it kept you thinking all the time. To be honest with you, this course could be somewhere in Australia where I've played a lot of golf and even in South Africa. It's different to what we play week in, week out, but I felt very, very comfortable out there.
I got off to a bit of a slow start in my first round, which was strange. I made a bogey and a double-bogey from nowhere and was 3-over par through 10 holes -- really caused by just a lack of concentration, I think. I played some good golf coming in, though. The eagle-3 on No. 14 obviously helped. I hit a great shot in there from a long way out and had a tap-in putt, so that was nice. The key was that I managed to get it back to level par by the end of the day and that was important for my mindset. That eagle really turned things around.
Friday was a washout, but still I was able to carry some good momentum into my second round on Saturday. I was really pleased with my play. I had some opportunities early on, which I didn't convert. Then I continued to hit good shots and started to make some putts. I played well enough to shoot a really low number out there, but still, 67 was a good score. It was just what I needed. It got me into a decent position going into Sunday when we'd play the final 36 holes. It was going to be a long day for everyone, but I was really up for it.
In round three on Sunday morning I didn't drive the ball great, but all other aspects of my game were in pretty good shape. I started with a bogey, but made five birdies in my next 13 holes and ended up shooting 69. I was hitting a lot of greens and, as with the previous day's play, giving myself a lot of opportunities. Again, it could have been better, really.
It was the same in the afternoon. I had chance after chance going out and didn't make much, but then I got things going again on the back nine to shoot 4 under on the day, 12 under for the tournament. After a long day's golf it felt good to finish strongly and end the week in a tie for third place.
And yeah, all in all I was pretty pleased with the week. My swing felt 100 percent better than it had done in THE PLAYERS Championship the previous week. I'm back to hitting the ball with a lot of authority, like I did in the Florida Swing earlier this year, and I'm making my share of putts, too. Basically, this was just the kind of week I needed to get me back on the right track.
I feel like I can roll it straight into this week's BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth, a tournament that I'm really looking forward to. The Ernie Els Design renovations to the West Course are now complete and since the golf course reopened at the end of March I've heard nothing but positive feedback, both from the club's members and some of the professionals who have already played practice rounds there. I can't wait to get there and tee it up for myself.
There are a couple of holes, such as the eighth and the 18th, where we've made significant changes and they look fantastic. But the key difference is the new greens and greens' complexes, which have been completely rebuilt to USGA spec to produce the world-class putting surfaces that this tournament deserves. We've rebuilt all the bunkers on the golf course as well, so there's a lot more consistency in terms of their appearance and also the playability.
It looks fantastic; it really does. I'm hoping that a bit of my local knowledge, as they say, can't do me any harm come Thursday morning when we get started.
I'll write again next week and tell you all about it.
Bye for now.
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May 10, 2010
Golf is the strangest game sometimes. I went into last week's PLAYERS Championship at TPC Sawgrass and genuinely liked my chances. But on one of the easiest days for scoring that I've ever experienced on this Pete Dye golf course, I went out and shot 74 in the first round and basically blew myself out of the tournament. You know last week when I said driving was one of the keys here? Unfortunately I drove the ball poorly all day on Thursday and this course is a struggle when you're hitting a lot of shots out of the rough.
With more than 80 players on par or better after day one, I had a real battle on my hands to try to make the cut for the weekend. That was seriously not part of my thinking when I arrived here on Monday afternoon.
In the second round I actually played better than I scored. I hit more fairways, gave myself a couple more opportunities on the greens, and felt like I hit a lot of good putts, too. Coming home I lost count of the number of times I burnt the edge of the hole or lipped out. If just a few of those putts had gone in I would have made the cut and then who knows what might have happened over the weekend. If you get on a roll anything is possible. As it turned out, a one-under par 71 left me at one-over par for the tournament and I missed out on the weekend.
Well done to Tim Clark, though. He's waited a long time for his first PGA TOUR win and what a week to do it! He'll enjoy this one and deservedly so.
For me, at least I had the weekend to work on some key aspects of my game. I'm definitely not quite where I was a month ago, but neither am I a million miles away. We'll see how it goes in this week's Valero Texas Open. I'm expecting better things, to be honest.
I'll write and tell you all about that in next week's website report. Bye for now.
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May 3, 2010
I arrived here at TPC Sawgrass on Monday afternoon, nice and early to start my preparations for this week's PLAYERS Championship. It's easy to see why a lot of people in the game call this tournament golf's unofficial 'fifth major'. Consistently it has one of the strongest fields of the year and the golf course sets up for lots of excitement. Also, I think the tournament is enhanced by the PGA TOUR's decision a couple of years ago to move it from March into its current slot at the beginning of May. Basically, it's a great event all round.
And I think the famous Stadium Course is also much improved since they made some key changes here a few years ago. They lengthened the course and they also improved the drainage and brought in some new grasses, so the course tends to play a little firmer and faster than it did before. As many of you will know, I like that style of play. Although we've had one of the coldest winters in Florida history, the guys have done a fantastic job to get the golf course in the shape it's in.
At just over 7,200 yards this is one of the shorter courses that we play all year, but you probably don't need me to tell you it's a tough, tough test. Pete Dye layouts tend to punish you if you make even half-a-mistake and there are holes where there's almost no margin for error. That's the style here, for sure. But at the same time there are opportunities, too. It's a ball-striker's golf course and if you hit the shots, then the birdies and eagles are there to be had.
The key I think is you have to hit it in the fairway, because as I said before the greens are usually firm and fast. Playing your approach shots from the 'short stuff' means that you have optimum control of your golf ball; otherwise, you're going to struggle. That's even more important now with the new style grooves, which generate significantly less backspin coming out of the rough.
Anyway, this will be my 17th career appearance in this event and I've had five top-11s, including a tied-sixth in 2008. That's not the best record, I must admit, and obviously I'd like to step that up a bit and come Sunday afternoon get myself in position to win this thing. There's no reason why I can't. I put in some good, solid practice sessions at the Bear's Club last week. If I can get into a bit of a groove here this week, you know, I really like my chances.
As I said in last week's report, I'm chasing three wins in Florida this season. To achieve that would be very special.
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April 26, 2010
It was a mixed week in every sense on Jeju Island in South Korea. The hospitality was, as always, absolutely first class. But my golf game was a combination of good and indifferent and the weather was extremely challenging, so much so that the tournament was reduced to 54 holes. That always feels a little bit strange, to be honest, but it was the right decision. South Korea is a long way from everyone's next stop, either in Europe or in the States. And you only needed some more bad weather and it would have been a real mess up. In tough circumstances, John Paramor and the rest of the team made the right calls.
In the first two rounds I played very nicely and really hit the ball solidly from tee to green. Even though I was 7-under after 36 holes, I felt like I'd left a lot of shots out there. I just wasn't making much on the greens. My stroke felt good, but I wasn't quite reading them correctly. They was a good surface, although a bit slower than I've been used to on the PGA TOUR, and I think that was the main reason I struggled. But it's sensible to keep the greens on the slow side, just in case they get 50 mph winds and golf balls get blown all over the show.
As I said, it was challenging. Playing conditions were tough and obviously when you get a lot of interruptions in play that's not ideal. But some of the guys had it worse than me. I had a day off on Friday, which is a bit unusual in the middle of a golf tournament, but you take it as it is and just try to switch off. I went to the gym, watched a bit of golf, and basically took it easy. What else can you do?
Anyway, at 7-under I was a couple of shots off the lead going into Sunday and felt like I needed to shoot a good final round to give myself a chance. It was a decent position to be in and I was looking forward to the challenge.
I made good progress on the front nine. It was another difficult, windy day out there and although my game was a little ragged I managed to scramble well and get to the turn in 3-under, 10-under for the tournament. I was just one shot off the lead at that point. But coming home I made some bad swings and the putter went cold on me. I dropped down into a tie for ninth place. It was a tough way to end what was a tough week's golf. It was disappointing.
I'm now back in West Palm Beach after a long journey, so I'll take it easy for a few days and just chill out. I'm not playing a tournament this week, but I want to spend some time hitting balls and just get my swing back in that nice little groove that I had going during the Florida Swing. Next week is a big one, THE PLAYERS Championship at TPC Sawgrass, and obviously I want to be swinging it well going in there. Three wins in Florida this year... hey, that would be something!
I'll write again next Monday with more news, so bye for now.
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April 19, 2010
Obviously it's a bit of a monster journey from West Palm Beach to Jeju Island in South Korea for this week's Ballantine's Championship, but this is the middle of April and it's basically my first long haul flight of the season, so I can't complain. I set off on Saturday from Florida and arrived here in South Korea on Sunday evening. And today I'm taking part in an SAP Golf Day, which is a pretty relaxed affair with a barbeque in the afternoon and then probably an early night for me.
I'll then be ready on Tuesday to start my preparations for the tournament. Last year was my debut in this event, not my first time playing golf in South Korea but my first time in the Ballantine's Championship, and I really enjoyed it. I played quite nicely and finished top-five. To be honest, if just a few more putts had dropped over the weekend I'd have been contending for a win.
We had really strong winds here last year, which I believe is fairly typical so maybe we'll get a bit more of the same this year. I remember Friday and Saturday in particular were brutal. To give you some idea, I shot a third-round 73 and went from tied-28th at the start of the day to tied-sixth at the close of play. "Moving day" doesn't usually work out quite like that.
My long game tends to hold up very well in windy conditions, so I won't mind too much if we get similar conditions at least on a couple of the days, but maybe not every day from start to finish! And my putting has been good this year, so all in all I feel very confident of my chances this week.
I'm looking forward to it. I've been playing in Asia since 1992 and I've seen the game and its players develop enormously in that time. I think it's fair to say that Korea is at the forefront of the Asian golf boom. The world knows all about the strength of women's golf here and now the men are coming through as well and I imagine there are players lining up to follow in the footsteps of guys like Y.E. Yang and KJ Choi. And the fans here are great; they're friendly, extremely welcoming and very passionate and knowledgeable about the game of golf.
It should be a really good week. I'll write again next Monday and tell you all about it.
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April 12, 2010
I put in what I thought was the perfect preparation to give myself the best shot at winning this year's Masters and my game and my attitude were really good coming in here, but me and this golf course just don't seem to gel anymore. It's like I'm bashing my head against the wall every time. I play a lot of good golf here, but somewhere along the line it's like something is going to happen that's not good. Maybe I've had a few too many of those experiences on this course.
The first round just about summed it up. On a tricky day for scoring I played beautifully to get to 3-under after 17 holes and not a bogey on my card, then on 18 which was playing downwind I made a silly double bogey. It's the worst possible time to do that. I mean, instead of shooting a nice round in the 60s and feeling upbeat, I've shot 71 and that last hole is playing on my mind. Even on Friday morning I was still thinking about it. It's crazy.
I battled all week, though, and I never, ever throw in the towel. I suppose a final round 68 gave me some satisfaction. I played nicely all day and came home in 32, which put me inside the top-20. But to be honest that was a pretty small consolation in what was overall a frustrating and disappointing week.
I have to start thinking a bit differently about this tournament, because it's just killing me. Something has to change. I think maybe next year I'll just fly in on Wednesday, play a practice round and then just go tee it up on Thursday. What I've been doing the last 17 years hasn't worked, so why not mix it up? There's nothing I don't know about this golf course, so I'll just take my foot off the pedal in the build-up and work on trying to get myself mentally ready. And I need to stop beating myself up about winning this thing. Obviously if I don't win a Green Jacket it'll be a huge void in my career, but plenty of other great players didn't win this tournament, either. If it doesn't happen, it doesn't happen.
Anyway, I have to remember that I've had a good start to this year, with a couple of wins under my belt already. I want to win five or six tournaments this year and that's what I'm looking forward to, so come this weekend I'll get back down to working on my game and getting ready to win my next tournament. I want to make this a great year and there's obviously plenty of time to do that. Also, the next three majors are at golf courses that I love, so I'm excited about those and maybe I'll have better luck there than I do at Augusta. I think so.
Okay, that's it for now. I'll write again next Monday.
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March 29, 2010
Doral was a pretty hard act to follow, so obviously I'm really excited about how I played at Bay Hill last week. For a while on Sunday the win looked like it was going to be even easier than down in Miami, but there's a bit more trouble around this golf course and I made it a bit tougher for myself coming down the stretch. It went from being very comfortable to very tense. But I holed some great putts coming in and a win is a win, as they say. And it's great to win Arnold's tournament again -- I mean, the guy is such a legend.
Anyway, let me talk you through the week. In Thursday's first round with JB Holmes and Sean O'Hair we had some fun out there. JB shot 6 under, Sean was 2 under and I was 4 under. We had a lot of birdies between us -- I had seven on my own -- and that's always nice to be part of. Four-under 68 was a good start and I was just looking for more of the same in the second round.
On Friday I survived a tricky patch on the front nine where I struggled with my game a little bit, but I stayed tough mentally and just grinded it out. Then I got a good break with my tee shot on the par-5 6th hole and got out of there with a par when it could have been worse, then I saved par from a plugged lie in the bunker on 7. That kind of set me on my way and I reeled off four birdies in my next five holes and then birdied 17 to go to the top of the leaderboard. It was only Friday night, though, so I wasn't thinking about winning. My mindset is to just concentrate on playing good golf and the rest will take care of itself.
In Saturday's third round I felt very comfortable from tee-to-green. I struck the ball really nicely all day and my driving was extremely good, so I was pleased with that. The golf course played a little tougher than it did the first couple of days, so it was a bit of a grind out there, but 69 was a good score. The up-and-down par save that I made from the bunker on 18 was a really nice way to finish -- you know, just rolling in a tricky 10-footer downhill helps keep the confidence on the up and the momentum going forward. Obviously I was in a very good position going into Sunday's last round, but like I said before, I just needed to keep my mind on playing good golf; that's all.
On Sunday I was playing nicely and made birdies on 1, 5, 6, 9, 10 and 12. By then I was cruising really with a five-shot lead. So I was annoyed with myself for hitting it in the water on 13, then making bogey on 14. I was pretty much steaming when I walked off that green, so maybe it wasn't such a bad thing that we got called off the golf course at that time. The rain and thunderstorms were pretty severe, so we knew we'd have to come back on Monday morning and finish this. I had a two-shot lead, so that was the good thing, but there was still work to do out there. I knew I'd have to play hard for four holes and just do the best I could.
Sunday wasn't the most relaxing evening I've ever had, to be honest with you. But I felt pretty good when I came out to finish my round on Monday morning and I knew what I had to do. It's such a tough closing stretch at Bay Hill that I figured four pars would be good enough and that's how it turned out. It wasn't textbook golf, but I worked hard for it and really earned this one.
With Kevin playing just in front of me I knew what was going on the whole time. Things were tight so I was proud of some of the putts I made. The up-and-down from the front bunker on 17 was huge. I mean, from that plugged lie it's really tough to control the ball, so to get it to 8 feet and slot the putt right in the middle, that was a nice moment. I was pleased with my tee shot on 18 as well, because that's such a dangerous hole if you get it out of position.
Anyway, that final round showed me that I have a lot of fight left in me. When it mattered I got the ball up and down and made some really good putts under pressure, so that's going to help me in the future for sure.
And two wins in a row is definitely special. I'll obviously take a lot of satisfaction from that. But there are some things about my game I still need to straighten out. I'm not going to change my attitude. In fact, these wins just give me even more determination and motivation. I'm going to keep working hard, keep thinking about playing good golf, and just roll it into Houston this week and give it 100 percent. I'll write again next Monday and tell you all about it.
Okay, bye for now.
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March 15, 2010
Wow, what a week! This win means so much to me. I mean, that final round was a big day. No one puts more pressure on me than I do myself and there's no better time to test yourself than the fourth round of the golf tournament with everything on the line. I wanted to prove something to myself out there, so to shoot a bogey-free 66 felt great. I was very calm, very confident. It was like I used to feel when I was winning a bunch of tournaments earlier in my career -- you know, one shot at a time, one hole at a time. I'm going to enjoy this win and then get back down to more hard work, because at the end of the day that's the winning formula.
That's how I started my week. After struggling at the Honda Classic I kind of went back to the drawing board. I'd got out of whack with my ball position, posture and my stance, so I went back to basics. I hit balls until it got dark every day leading up to Doral and by Thursday I had it pretty comfortable. My ball striking was better and the flight was stronger, too. That was a real key at Doral, because with the wind blowing hard you had to have control of your golf ball and hit your shots with authority. And that's what I managed to do all week. It felt great.
So, let me talk you through the tournament as I saw it. Conditions were really tough in Thursday's first round but, as I was saying in my previous website report, I like Doral better when it plays firm and fast with a bit of wind. That's how it was when I won here in 2002. Given the conditions I was really pleased to make six birdies and shoot a four-under par 68. I enjoyed moving the ball around a bit and hitting some knockdown shots and I made some nice putts, too.
Friday I pretty much picked up where I left off the previous day, starting with a birdie on the par-5 10th hole and making another birdie on the par-4 14th. I turned in two-under par and then came home in four-under par for a bogey-free 66. They were two really good days for me and I was looking forward to the weekend.
On Saturday I played really solid again. I hit a lot of quality golf shots and made five birdies. The few mistakes I made were what I'd call soft mistakes. I missed a couple of short putts here and there. I didn't feel like I made a good stroke on those putts, so when I finished my round I went straight to the practice putting green and worked till it was dark to get that good feeling back. By the time I went back to my hotel room that night, I felt like I was right back on track.
Rolling-in a four-footer for birdie on the first green on Sunday confirmed that, so I was on my way then and feeling good. Playing with Char was pretty cool and a great story for South African golf. Most people know our history. I've known him since he was a young kid. He's a hard worker and a great kid. When we started the Ernie Els & Fancourt Foundation Charl was an affiliated member with us and travelled with the team. What he's done since has been fantastic and of course it's a huge inspiration to all the other kids at the Foundation.
Anyway, I wasn't surprised to see him play great on Sunday. He came at me all day and it wasn't until the 17th when I made birdie and Charl made bogey that there was anything much between us. We'd both made a bunch of birdies all day and were kind of going at it head-to-head in the end. It was a lot of fun and I'm pleased to have won, obviously. I'm pleased for Charl, too. For him to finish second here was a good result and I think everyone on the PGA Tour is going to see a lot more of him in years to come. Charl stayed with me at the house in West Palm Beach last week and he's staying with me again this week. Trust me if this result had been different he'd have definitely been staying in the garden!
Seriously, though, this win is just what I needed. Doral is a tough golf course and it was windy all week, so to make 23 birdies, more than anyone else in the field, and just five bogeys was a very solid performance. My motivation has never been lacking, but I feel like my formula is good now and it's nice to see it bear fruit so early in the season. We're very settled with our base in America. I haven't travelled that much this year and I think that's helped me stay a bit fresher than I have been in the past couple of seasons. All in all, I feel really good mentally.
And I'm more excited about my whole game than I have been in a long time. My putting has turned around and my short game is sharp. I feel like I can have a really good year, which is why I'm working so hard on getting my mechanics right, because, as I said, mentally I'm in a good place right now and if you get the mind and body working together you can really get some good stuff happening.
Talking of good stuff happening, we have the 2010 Els for Autism Charity Pro Am taking place at PGA National this Monday. We have a lot of support from my fellow professionals and I'm looking forward to another great day. We raised over $600,000 last year for our Foundation, which was fantastic. Let's hope we can repeat that or even improve on it. I'll write next week and tell you all about it.
In the meantime, I just want to finish by saying thanks to everyone who sent me their good wishes and congratulations on this win. We've had hundreds of emails through the website and although I can't reply to everyone individually, I want you all to know that your support really means a lot to me.
Bye for now.
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March 8, 2010
I went into last week's The Honda Classic with a lot of optimism, with it being virtually a home tournament for me and having won here a couple of years ago. Obviously, a tie for 67th tells you pretty much all you need to know about my performance. I had spells of good play, but in the tough windy conditions my game was too inconsistent. To be honest, there's not much more to say, other than you just move on and look forward to your next tournament.
However, there was some good news last week as I was proud and honored to hear that the Golf Writers Association of America is giving me the prestigious Charlie Bartlett Award. It's named after the first secretary of the GWAA and is given to professional golfers for their unselfish contributions to the betterment of society, in my case for setting up the Ernie Els & Fancourt Foundation in South Africa and, more recently, the Els for Autism Foundation in the United States
I often say that the mark of a true man is not what he takes in life, but what he gives back. It is a philosophy that I strongly believe in and live by, so an award such as this from the Golf Writers Association of America really means a lot to me and I know to everyone else who works on behalf of our charitable foundations. I'm very much looking forward to receiving the award at the GWAA's annual dinner, which is taking place on the eve of this year's Masters.
Anyway, moving onto this week's World Golf Championships-CA Championship, the second of this year's World Golf Championships events. This is another of my favorite stops on the PGA TOUR and I love the straightforward playability of this golf course. It's a well-balanced test. There are holes where you need to fade it, others that require a draw. You've got monster par 4s -- including the 18th, which is one of the toughest holes on the PGA TOUR -- and you've got short par 4s, a nice mixture of par 3s and par 5s. You need to be able to work the ball and have all the shots to score well. Personally, over the years I've preferred it when the wind gets up a bit and the golf course plays firm and fast, but we'll see how that pans out.
It's another golf course I've won on before, back in 2002 when they played the Genuity Championship here, so as with last week's The Honda Classic I'll go in with some good vibes. Only this week I'm obviously looking for a much better result. My game's been in decent shape this year, so there's no reason why I can't shrug off last week's play and really step it up here at TPC Blue Monster at Doral. That's my intention.
Okay then, I'll write again next week and tell you all about it.
Bye for now.
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March 1, 2010
I've had 10 days off since the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship, so I'm feeling refreshed and keen to tee it up again this week. I had a good time last week in West Palm Beach, hitting balls in the mornings and working out in the gym most afternoons.
And the great thing is I don't even have to fly anywhere for this week's Honda Classic. PGA National Resort is just down the road in Palm Beach Gardens and let me tell you, as a player, any time you can stay at home for a tournament is always a bonus. It doesn't happen very often during the course of the year, typically maybe two or three times at most, so I'll enjoy it while I can.
The Champion Course is definitely one of the more demanding venues on the PGA TOUR, a par 70 and just over 7,150 yards. It was designed by Tom Fazio in 1981 and hosted the Ryder Cup matches a couple of years later, then Jack Nicklaus redesigned the course in 2001. I'd describe it as a classic Florida test of golf and I tend to go well here. I like the course and won the tournament in 2008. Obviously you have a bit of extra confidence whenever you return to a golf course that you've won on before -- you just get those positive vibes going again.
For all of those reasons I like my chances this week. My game feels in really good shape and despite what happened at the Accenture I have a bit of momentum from some solid top-10 finishes at the start of this season. I'd estimate I'm roughly 35-under par for the 14 competitive rounds of golf I've played this year and the consistency and rhythm of my game is a notch or two up from where it was last year and even the year before that.
Anyway, as I was saying in my last website report, this is the start of the PGA TOUR's Florida Swing. For me, that means a stretch of three tournaments and a week off at home, which all together will make up the whole of March. We're playing PGA National, then Doral and Bay Hill, which are all golf courses that I like, so I have high expectations of myself. I'm really looking forward to it.
Okay, that's it for now. I'll write again next Monday and update you on all the news.
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Feb. 22, 2010
Having played some really good stuff in America these past three or four weeks, I was very much looking forward to last week's World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship. Also I'd enjoyed a pretty good run in this tournament last year, so all in all I felt optimistic. It didn't work out for me, though, and that was disappointing.
Obviously there was a lot going on off the golf course, with the media picking up on my comments about the timing of Tiger's press conference. I don't think I need to add any more to this debate, other than to say I have a huge amount of respect for Tiger. I've known him since he was 16 years old. We're very good friends and I'm sure we'll remain that way. I said what I said, so let's just move on.
The week started promisingly. In my first round match against Ryan Moore I was 6-under par when I closed out the match on the 15th green. I started very solidly and once I got in front I could afford to play smart and pick my moments to be aggressive, making birdies on the seventh and 13th to go 4 up in the match. It was just a case of keeping the pressure on, because in match play you only have to lose one hole and the other guy can get momentum. The good putts I made on Nos. 10 and 11 for pars were the putts that swung the match in my favor. If I had missed those, I'd have been only 1 up and it could have been a dogfight to the end.
My second round match against Retief was obviously an exciting match-up for South African golf. We're good friends and we've played a lot of golf together over the years. This latest encounter was a bit up-and-down, to be honest. I played better from tee to green than Retief, but he putted better than me and in match play that's often the telling factor. I had my chances around the turn and if I'd made those it might have been a different story. But saying that, I holed clutch putts to win the 18th and halve the 19th, making a great stroke both times, so even though I lost the match I'll try to take some positives from that.
It was disappointing to have to leave Arizona so early, not just from a golfing standpoint but also due to the fact that we were staying at Stone Canyon for the fourth year running and this place is just unbelievable. The members, the staff, everyone is just so pleasant. They very kindly gave me honorary membership there, as well, and I'm very flattered by that and I look forward to going back many times in years to come. Later this week I'll put a separate story on the website about this place, because it is unbelievably good. If you haven't been there I recommend you give it a try. You won't be disappointed, trust me.
Anyway, Thursday night I headed straight back to Florida to chill out for a few days. I've got no firm plans this week. The weather is looking good, so I'll spend some time working on my game. Then at the weekend I'll turn my focus to The Honda Classic, which is the start of the PGA TOUR's Florida swing.
The whole of the next month is looking good for me on the travel front. After the Honda Classic is the World Golf Championships-CA Championship at Doral in Miami followed by the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard at Bay Hill. It means I'll get to the first week of April having played a busy tournament schedule, but without any of the drawbacks of long-haul travel. That's not to say there aren't any international excursions on my 2010 schedule; it's just that this first half of the season is mainly focused on America, which I hope will benefit my game.
And the kids are certainly enjoying seeing a bit more of their dad, too!
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Feb. 15, 2010
After getting back from Riviera last Sunday night I had a fairly quiet week and basically balanced my time between taking it easy, spending time with the family and also working on my game. And I'm ready to go again at this week's Accenture Match Play Championship, the first World Golf Championships event of 2010.
I got pretty excited when they moved this tournament in 2007 from California to The Ritz-Carlton Golf Club in Dove Mountain, Ariz. I mean, everyone knows I'd had a poor record in the match play when it was played at La Costa and I thought a change of venue might bring with it a change in my fortunes, but the first couple of years here it was the same old story -- very disappointing, basically.
Then last year I got on a little bit of a run, as they say. I played a lot better and I got off to a quicker start in my early matches. In total I think I made 16 birdies and an eagle in my first three games and I really felt like I had some momentum at last. It was much more like it. In the end I lost in the quarterfinals to Stewart Cink, but it still felt like it had been a pretty good week. You know, it was like I'd broken the cycle of bad performances in this tournament.
So actually, I'm going into this year's Accenture with a bit more optimism than before. And my confidence is on the up, anyway, after a solid start to the year and back-to-back top-10 finishes in my last two tournaments in San Diego and at Riviera.
You probably know the format of this event by now, but here's a quick summary for those who don't. The 64-man field is divided into four brackets named after four great players -- Bobby Jones, Ben Hogan, Gary Player and Sam Snead -- and the winners of each bracket ultimately make up the semifinal line-up. You've got to win four matches to get there, though.
I'm in the Gary Player bracket and I'm up against young American Ryan Moore in my first round match. And that's all you look at in match play, one match at a time. The media likes to make a big thing about some of the exciting potential head-to-heads that might come up in future rounds, but as a player you don't even entertain thoughts like that. As I said, you just focus on one match at a time.
We've got 64 of the world's best players here and over one round of golf anyone is capable of beating anyone else. It's always unpredictable. You can shoot 66 and be going home ...or you can get lucky and shoot 71 and win. You just never know. These 18-hole matches are a bit of a sprint and for that reason a slow start "out of the blocks" can really hurt you. To be honest, it has done me in, in the past. So I think you need to be aggressive pretty much from the get-go and try to be the player applying the pressure, not the one receiving it.
The first-round matches are played on Wednesday, a day earlier than a regular TOUR event, so I've tailored my travel arrangements to suit. I obviously want to get there in time to settle in, play a practice round and basically get myself in the right frame of mind.
I'm looking forward to it and if I can play like I have the last three or four weeks, I like my chances of having another good run here.
As always I'll write next week and tell you all about it.
Bye for now.
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Feb. 8, 2010
Riviera was one of those weeks where I kind of stayed under the radar, but it was another solid tournament for me and another top-10 finish. In my first three tournaments on this year's PGA TOUR I've shot under par in 11 out of the 12 rounds I've played and my highest score is a level par 70 in the Sony. After a crazy up-and-down 2009, this is more like it. I'm more consistent in my scoring, I've got more of a competitive rhythm going, and all in all I'm pleased with my game.
Callaway has given me a softer-covered golf ball, the Tour (i)s, and my short game has come back almost overnight. I'm sharper than I have been the last couple of seasons and I finally feel like my putting has clicked, too. I've sorted out my posture, I feel comfortable over the ball, and I've got a nice shoulder-rocking motion going on. I've basically gone back to the way I used to putt in my 20s.
And last week at Riviera was definitely another step forward on the greens; I mean, it's probably the most comfortable I've felt on the greens in quite some time. I averaged just a little over 26 putts for the four rounds and let me tell you they are the kind of numbers I could get used to.
The only thing that stopped me contending for a win was I made just a few too many mistakes in my approach play. But hey, it was just a few misses here and there. I don't want to complain. As I said before, it was a pretty solid week. Apart from the final day when the sun shone, scoring conditions were tough so shooting a pair of 70s and a pair of 68s to finish 8-under par was decent golf.
I've got a week off now in Florida and I'll keep doing what I'm doing, work some more on my game and get myself ready for my next tournament, the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship. You know, having my schedule the way it has been this past month or so, playing exclusively on the PGA TOUR, has worked well for me. I'm fresh and raring to go every time I tee it up and I feel very confident right now.
I'm getting asked a lot of questions both in person and through my website about my caddie situation, so before we wrap things up for this week's report let me just clear this up for everyone. This year I'm basically sharing out the workload between Dan Quinn, who has been on the bag my last few events, and my regular long-time caddie Ricci Roberts.
I've got to know Dan pretty well since we moved out here to Florida and we work well together on the golf course. He's a former professional hockey player and a fine golfer, so he totally gets it. Ricci is still on the scene, though. He's obviously a great friend and a great caddie, too. I think between him and Dan it'll be a pretty even split, each doing around 12 or 13 tournaments this year. I think it'll work well.
So there you go. That's it for this week. I'll write again next Monday.
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Feb. 1, 2010
I was really looking forward to teeing it up at Torrey Pines last week. Obviously this is kind of where my golfing career started, winning the World Junior in 1984. It's a special place and a really good ball-striking golf course. You've got to hit it well to score well at Torrey Pines. You can't fake it around here. So finishing 11 under par and tied for fifth -- you know, I've got to be pretty satisfied with that. It's still a bit of a work in progress, as they say, but I was much happier with my putting and all week I hit the ball really soundly from tee to green.
I started on the South Course in Round 1, which is the tougher of the two layouts here at Torrey Pines, and had a bit of an up-and-down front nine, but I soon settled into a groove and finished strongly to shoot a 2-under par 70. That was okay. I mean, most of the guys shooting really low on Thursday were on the North Course. I was there on Friday so in view of that I was kind of hoping for a bit better, but 69 I felt was still a decent round of golf. It got me heading in the right direction and I was feeling positive going into the weekend.
And I was happy with a pair of 69s on Saturday and Sunday. I hit my new irons great and hit a lot of greens in regulation. And I made some putts, too. When I eagled 13 on Sunday afternoon I was right in the mix and had an outside chance of winning. I just needed to make at least a couple more birdies coming home. I didn't manage that, but it felt good to hole a tricky downhill 8-footer on the final green for a closing birdie and a top-five finish.
All in all, it was a good week. Maybe my confidence isn't quite where I need it to be, but I'm getting there. It's a lot better than it was. A few more finishes like that and I really feel that a win is only just around the corner. I'm certainly looking forward to Riviera this week.
Before that, I'm spending all day Monday with Callaway here in California, doing some filming for television, which always is pretty good fun. They keep it relaxed and at the same time very professional, so there's no time wasted. Also, the day will give me the chance to meet with the R&D guys, partly so that I can give them my feedback on the new grooves but also so they can give me an insight into some of the new technologies that are coming our way. It's one of the many things that Callaway does so well and it's always an interesting exercise for me.
After we're done I'll probably then head straight to Riviera for this week's Northern Trust Open. No sense flying all the way to West Palm Beach and back again to California the next day. As I've said before, Riviera is one of my favourite golf courses in America. With my confidence on the up and my golf game in good shape, I can't wait to tee it up.
I'll write next week and tell you all about it.
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Jan. 27, 2010
I spent much of last week at the house in West Palm Beach and, as I said I would, dedicated quite a lot of time to working on my game. Now it's a coast-to-coast flight for this week's tournament, heading west to Southern California and a place I know well, Torrey Pines.
The main title sponsor Buick, which had sponsored this week's tournament for nearly 20 years, filed for bankruptcy last year so up until very recently it was looking like we'd be playing in the San Diego Open. But the PGA TOUR has done a great job signing up a new title sponsor and it's now called the Farmers Insurance Open. I hear it's a Southern California-based company, so that's a neat fit.
Anyway, it's a new sponsor but as I said there's nothing new to me about the venue, Torrey Pines. Although over the years I've often missed this week due to it clashing with the European Tour's Gulf Swing in the Middle East, this is a golf course that I have some form on. I last played the Buick Invitational here in 2005 and shot 65 in the first round on the way to finishing tied for sixth. More recently I played some really good stuff here in the U.S. Open a couple of years ago.
Also, as many of you will know, I have won at Torrey Pines before, although from the photos of that week you'd have a tough job recognizing me. Trust me -- I was a little skinnier then and had a lot more hair. It was the 1984 World Junior Championships and I was thrilled just to come over from South Africa and play in an event of that stature, so to win it was incredible. I remember playing great in the first round -- shot 67, I think -- and I had a bit of a lead going into the final day. I was playing with Phil Mickelson and I managed to keep my nose in front; came to the last hole and I knew that if I made par I'd win. I was nervous, but I did it. Even now the memory is still clear. Oh, and I remember I ate an awful lot of hamburgers during that week, too. I'm glad to say that my diet has changed a lot since then, though.
Mind you, so has this golf course. Rees Jones revamped it in 2001; basically, lengthened it, re-did the greens and added new bunkers. Before, it was always a good test. Now, you could say it's a bit of a monster. From the back tees it measures over 7,600 yards -- and this is at sea level, don't forget. The course is a little softer at this time of the year compared to when we played the U.S. Open here in 2008, so that obviously makes a difference and it'll play every inch of its yardage.
The good news is I've got a driver that I really feel comfortable with. I was averaging well over 300 yards in the Sony Open in Hawaii a couple of weeks ago, so more of that will come in handy here at Torrey Pines. The new Callaway irons feel good, too, and I've had a couple of weeks to get comfortable with the new grooves and how the new Tour (i)s golf ball reacts. I'm feeling good and looking forward to this little stretch, here in San Diego this week and then at Riviera the following week.
I'll write again next Monday and fill you in on all the latest news.
Until then, bye for now.
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Jan. 19, 2010
Even though this was my first tournament of 2010, and naturally you tend to be searching for your game a little bit, I still set myself the highest standards every time I tee it up, especially here at Waialae Country Club where I've had a couple of wins and a bunch of top-5s over the years. Saying that, a tie for 12th was a pretty solid week's work and, to be honest, I was pretty happy with my game all in all.
As I was saying in my website report last week, Waialae is a tight golf course and you really need to hit fairways, otherwise it's a difficult golf course to go low on. That was the one thing that let me down the first couple of days. I just wasn't in the 'short stuff' often enough to attack the pins and set-up birdie chances.
At 1 under for 36 holes, I qualified right on the cut line, so considering where I was at the halfway mark I have to be satisfied with climbing up the leaderboard all the way to the fringes of a top-10 spot in the end. I played a bogey-free round of 67 on Saturday, which was pretty solid all round. Then on Sunday I shot 66 and played my best golf of the week. I hit a lot of fairways and greens, so it was all coming together. Could have holed a few more putts, but other than that there were lots of good signs out there.
It was good to get a tournament under my belt with the new irons in my bag. Obviously with the 2010 grooves you notice a difference in spin, but this is kind of what I was used to earlier in my career so I think it will affect my generation less than perhaps the younger guys out here. I've always prided myself on having good touch, feel and imagination around the greens, so with the ball spinning less those qualities will come even more to the forefront of the game. I have to say the new Callaway Tour (i)s golf ball, which has a slightly softer cover than the previous generation ball, really helps too.
Anyway, I've got a week off now. I'll stay here in Florida and spend some time working on my game. The way I've set up my schedule this year will allow me to do that a little more than before and I intend to take every opportunity. I've hit 40 now and guys like me, Retief, Phil and a few others -- you know, it's like the sand in the hourglass is starting to run out and we want to prove that we belong here and that we're capable of winning more tournaments and majors. The only way to do that, as it always has been, is to work hard.
My next tournament is the San Diego Open at Torrey Pines in California; I'll tell you more about that in my next report on Monday.
Bye for now, though.
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Jan. 11, 2010
With a base in the U.S. now it seems strange that my first PGA TOUR event of the year should involve a seven-hour flight. But we're obviously looking at opposite ends of a vast country here, West Palm Beach to Hawaii. It's got to be well over 4,000 miles.
Anyway, there's no major time difference so it's no big deal. I'm setting off from home on Monday morning and by late afternoon I'll be in my hotel near the golf course and ready to start my preparations first thing Tuesday morning. After a nice long break, I'm raring to go.
Hawaii has always been a good place to start the year for me. I've played some great golf here, winning three tournaments in the space of 12 months not so long ago. Well, it doesn't seem that long ago but in actual fact it was 2003-04. It's probably about time I updated that with some new entries -- who knows, maybe this week?
Certainly Waialae Country Club is a golf course that I've played many, many times over the years and with that familiarity comes a fair amount of comfort. It's quite a flat golf course, located right by the ocean just a little way down the road from Honolulu. It's also quite a narrow course. Combine that with the ocean breezes and you really have to get your golf ball under control to score well on this golf course. I'm obviously looking forward to it.
Looking ahead for a moment you'll see that my 2010 tournament schedule is now on the website. As it stands, the first half of my season is looking a little different to what I've done the last 10 years or so, because I'm concentrating heavily on the PGA TOUR. Taking everything into account I felt that it was the right thing to do for my golf. And it limits my traveling for the first three or four months of the year, which is something I'm keen to do wherever possible in 2010.
So, I'll tee it up in this week's Sony Open in Hawaii, then probably take a week off and work on my game in Florida, before playing in the San Diego Open at Torrey Pines and then the Northern Trust Open at Riviera Country Club, one of my favorite courses in America.
I'm excited about how this season is shaping up on paper. It's all part of my design to start winning golf tournaments again.
Okay, that's it for now. I'll write again next Monday.
Cheers.
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Jan. 4, 2010
Well, here we go again. The start of another New Year and hopefully it will be a healthy and happy one for all of you reading this. I send you all my very best wishes for the next 12 months.
I've enjoyed the perfect Christmas holiday down by the ocean in South Africa, surrounded by family and friends. It's probably my favorite few weeks of the year, so in that sense I have mixed feelings when it's all over. Part of me wants to relax some more and stay with the family, but at the same time the competitive golfer inside me is itching to get going again and tee it up in my first tournament of the New Year. And in 2010 that happens to be in Hawaii at next week's Sony Open. Let's be honest, there are worse ways to go back to work!
I'm obviously looking forward to it. I've played many times in the Sony Open over the years and I have a good record, having won it back-to-back in 2003 and 2004 and finishing second to Vijay Singh by a shot in 2005. As you can imagine I always tee it up there with a fair bit of confidence, which makes it the perfect place to start my 2010 campaign. And I really want to start this season with a good week's golf -- you know, play a couple of solid rounds and see where we are going into the weekend. I'll talk some more on that in next week's preview report, though.
As it stands, my playing schedule for 2010 is a bit of a work in progress as they say. But I'll be having a long chat with my manager Chubby Chandler in the next couple of days, just to nail down the final details, and I expect to have something posted on the website by the end of this week. Rest assured you'll see it here first!
Okay, I'll leave it there for now and write again next Monday.
Cheers.
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