THE INTERVIEW: ERNIE ELS
The newly-appointed Internationals captain for the 2019 Presidents Cup in Melbourne talks candidly about his career – the major wins and losses, the impact of Tiger Woods, his charity work, the distance debate and the belief he has in winning again before
The newly-appointed Internationals captain for the 2019 Presidents Cup talks candidly about his career – the major wins and losses, the impact of Tiger Woods and the belief he has in winning again before he turns 50.
What’s driving you on these days? You’re still playing a lot of golf.
I don’t want to let go. Once you do that it is really tough to come back. I haven’t played very well for a while. But I’m a bit more healthy than I was a few months ago, so I will play a full schedule in 2018. I want to see if I can still get a win out of this thing.
You’re at that awkward age aren’t you? It’s tough to stay competitive on the regular Tour when you’re in your late 40s. And you are a little too young for senior’s golf.
That’s right. It is an awkward age ( laughs). It’s a bit like no-man’s land between 45 and 50. It is so hard to keep up with the young boys. But I don’t want to let my game go. As I said, I don’t want to get to 50 and have to work really hard to get to the level I would need to compete on the Champions Tour.
You still hit it far enough don’t you?
I do. I can still get it out there enough that I’m not miles behind. But take today (the first round of the Dubai Desert Classic). I made six birdies out there, which is good. But the bogies were sloppy. There was a three-putt. There was a silly three from the edge. Very soft stu. That’s the sort of stu I have to clean up. If I do, I think I can still compete at the highest level.
Having said that, the likes of Dustin Johnson and Rory McIlroy are playing a di erent course than most of the other players.
Yeah. They play the sort of game I used to play when I was in my prime. I was able to dominate fields and courses. But that’s not quite happening any more, which is the frustrating part of the game for me right now. I know what I could do. But I’m not quite the same player now. Having said that, I’m not chopped meat yet either (laughs). Which is why I’m still keen to see what I can get out of the game.
It’s all about confidence really. If I can get some of that going, I’ll be able to compete more. I’m getting there too. My putting has turned around.
I was going to ask you about that. We all saw what happened to you on the first green at Augusta (five putts from short range) a couple of years ago.
Exactly. But I’ve come back from that, which is amazing really. I was really nowhere back then. I had a huge fear of short putts. I’m not sure I quite had the yips, but there was a lot of anxiety.
What did it feel like?
I was just totally out of control. I was panicking.
It was horrible to watch.
Yeah. I was like, ‘get me out of here.’ It was a total brain freeze. So I had to work hard to get to where I am now. The centre-shaft putter I have now has really helped. It stands up. I can see exactly where I am aiming. And it feels much more relaxed. It has really come around nicely.
Did you make technical changes to fix the mental problems?
I did. I went left hand low. But the bottom line was that I spent so much time on my putting that my long game suered. Then I had some injuries last year. That all slowed me up a bit, which was frustrating.
You must have feared the worst after Augusta.
I did. Definitely. But I didn’t want to end it that way. I have so much love for the game. It has given so much. So I couldn’t leave like that. But it took a lot of work and lots of determination to get around what I was feeling. Now it is just a case of putting my whole game together. If I do that, I can really get something out of the next few months.
I remember reading an article about Bobby Jones. He was on the putting green at Augusta with some friends. They were watching him and asking what he was doing. He had the heebie-jeebies too. He could barely get around the course. So that sort of thing is no respecter of anyone, not even the greatest players.
Tiger is making yet another comeback. Let’s talk about him. You are always portrayed as the guy with the most scar tissue from competing with him at his best. Do you look back and wish he had never existed? Or did he make you a better player?
I think it’s a bit of both. If he hadn’t been around I would probably have won at least eight majors. I had a head start on many guys early on. I felt like the best player back then.
That’s because you were. Was it hard to be relegated to second best? How hard was that?
Yeah. That made a big dierence. I was always in his shadow, which was understandable. He was the biggest thing in the game by far. For at least 10 years it really felt like I was the ugly step-child. I was a big player, a really good player. But he was a bit better. So it was tough.
Looking back now, I feel proud that I played in that era. And I won four majors.
You are the only player who won a major before Tiger, during Tiger and after Tiger.
(laughs) That’s right. Exactly. I was right there. A lot of guys popped in now and then – David (Duval), Freddie (Couples), Vijay (Singh) – but it did seem like I was much more involved in the majors than anyone else. Apart from Tiger of course. I stepped up more than anyone else. More than Phil did anyway. Towards the end of Tiger’s best period, Phil did start to get some wins on him. But when we were all in our primes, I was the guy who faced up to him. I’m proud of that. Even if I didn’t get the number of wins I wanted. He was just phenomenal.
What were the di erences between you and him back then?
His ball-flight was the biggest thing. He could hit
I HAD A HUGE FEAR OF SHORT PUTTS. I’M NOT SURE I QUITE HAD THE YIPS, BUT THERE WAS A LOT OF ANXIETY. – ERNIE ELS
shots that I just couldn’t pull o . Not like he did. Where I would ‘feed’ the ball into greens from right-to-left, he had the massive high shot that would come down and stop almost immediately. I noticed that most at Hoylake in 2006. We played together there. The course was bone-hard. There were a couple of par-3s where I just couldn’t hold the greens. But his shots would. It was such a big di erence. He just had that strong, high ball.
Our short games were similar. But boy could he putt. He made Jordan Spieth today look very ordinary. I would go so far as to say no one has ever putted as well as Tiger for as long as Tiger. He went for years without missing a putt that really mattered.
That’s what people forget. He didn’t win the US Open by 15 shots and the Open by eight with his long game. He did those thing by holing everything.
Exactly. He made putts. I will never forget how good he was in that final round at Pebble Beach back in 2000. I was way behind but he was making everything. He holed maybe eight 30-footers. And he kept doing that week-in and week-out. The intensity was amazing. It was almost like he could make putts with his mind. I’ve never seen anything like that. It was kinda spooky really. I thought I was a good putter. But this guy was something else again. Phenomenal.
It must have been especially hard for you? You grew up being told you were going to be ‘the guy.” Then along came Tiger.
It did feel like that. Don’t get me wrong. I didn’t have things too easy before Tiger. But when I found my stride – I was winning all over the world – I felt like I was the guy to beat every week. In 1994 I won seven times. People forget that. I won a major too. It was like, ‘let’s’ go.’
Then in 1995 I had another good year. The same in 1996. Then in 1997 he won the Masters by 12 shots. Even though I won the US Open that year, it was like, ‘holy shit.’ He changed everything. And that was that.
What was your toughest loss? Augusta 2004, or Troon 2004? Or was it somewhere else?
The one that always gets me is the 1995 US PGA at Riviera. I had a three-shot lead going into the final round. But I was leaking oil all day. I hung in there though. And on the 16th I hit a 9-iron to about six feet. The putt horse-shoed out – the greens were terrible that week. That was the first time I thought to myself, “f***, that shouldn’t happen.”
Then I made a bogey on the 17th and finished two-shots out of the play-o between Colin Montgomerie and Steve Elkington. That really got to me. I was like, “s***, what was that?”
There was doubt suddenly?
I had never backed-o before. If I had the lead I always won. Always.
Then in the 1996 Open I dropped shots on the 16th and 18th in the final round. Both times by not hitting driver. And I am an aggressive player. I sat down afterwards and told Ricky (Roberts) my caddie we had to talk. I told him, “don’t ever f***ing pull me o when I want to hit driver.” He did that and made me hit 3-iron, which is not to say he was to blame. Ultimately, it was my decision.