Els Blog: Time for one of my favorite stops on TOUR

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Ernie Els finished T7 at TPC Blue Monster in 2006. `

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.

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.