In Ending a Slump, Els Merges Past and Present
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By LARRY DORMAN
The New York Times
March 14, 2010
DORAL, Fla. — Every time things became tight Sunday — and there were several — Ernie Els did what he used to do back when the living was easy and he was a dominant player in his 20s and his 30s, winning tournaments and hoisting trophies around the world. He gathered himself, summoned the resolve that defined him and did what had to be done to win.
So on another windblown day at Doral Resort and Spa, in the final round of the W.G.C.-CA Championship, the 40-year-old Els put on a clinic for his countryman and houseguest Charl Schwartzel and a show for the thousands at the Blue Monster.
He answered every challenge thrown at him by the 25-year-old Schwartzel, wearing him down with a flawless round of 66 that gave him a four-stroke victory over Schwartzel (70) and a seven-stroke win over Matt Kuchar, Martin Kaymer and Padraig Harrington. Els finished the four rounds at 18-under 270.
The victory was Els’s 17th on the PGA Tour, breaking a two-year drought in the United States and validating all the hard work he had put in to return to form since sustaining a serious knee injury in 2006. It vaulted him to No. 8 (from No. 20) in the World Golf Ranking.
“I’m 40, and I’ve had a tough run,” an exultant Els said. “My hairs are standing up. It’s just great. I really wanted to play well today. You saw me yesterday, I missed some short putts. I thought my game was in good shape, I just wanted to come out and prove it to myself for once."
“It means so much. I didn’t ever think it was going to happen again. I felt all week that the work that I did, I finally had to trust it. Today was a great day for it. The wind was blowing, and I hit solid shots. Charl came at me all day until 17, and I had to come up with the goods. I’ve got to take a lot of positives out of this going into the Masters in a month.”
It has been a long time since Els has had so many good things to take out of a tournament. He did not bogey a hole in the final round and bogeyed just five all week. He made a 24-foot par-saving putt at the 14th hole to maintain his one-stroke lead over Schwartzel, who had not blinked to that point.
But when Els’s putt went in on the last revolution of the ball at 14, Schwartzel, who had walked to the path leading to the next tee, turned and looked at Els, smiled and shook his head.
“There’s always a turning point,” Schwartzel said. “It’s amazing, you can just see it. When he knocked it in, I sort of said to myself, ‘Don’t let this be the turning point.’ But in the back of your mind — that was big for him, for his confidence.”
It was. It was bigger than starting with three birdies in the first four holes. It was bigger than his par save from the trees at No. 6, and bigger than the par save from in front of the 11th green, where he grabbed the lead back from Schwartzel. And it was bigger than the birdie at the par-5 12th, where he matched Schwartzel’s birdie and kept his one-stroke margin.
“You’ve got to make putts like that if you’re going to win,” Els said of the putt at No. 14. “I felt a lot better after that. I started thinking that maybe this one was for me.”
He did not have to wait long to remove any doubt. At the par-3 15th, when Els led off with an iron shot into the back bunker, Schwartzel failed to seize the opening that was, as it turned out, his last opening. Schwartzel’s tee shot on the 147-yard hole, which was playing into a gusting wind of 25 miles per hour, tumbled into the front bunker. He hit his next shot into the back bunker, directly in front of Els’s ball.
Schwartzel bogeyed the 15th, and bogeyed the 17th hole to Els’s birdie, letting Els walk to the 18th tee with a four-stroke lead. Nothing can take the fear out of the hole that gave the Blue Monster its name like a four-stroke lead on the tee.
When Els spoke about his tough run, he was mostly talking about his golf. But his life has been difficult off the course as well, beginning with a diagnosis of autism for his son, Ben, 7. Els and his wife, Liezl, have since created the Els for Autism Foundation. He was asked if Ben would understand how much his father had done Sunday.
“Not quite yet,” he said. “But we’ll show him. Liezl will show him the video. He loves watching me practice at the Bears Club. He always comes out and gets on the range and watches me play. But we’ll show him the tape. I think he’ll be excited about it.” |
