Ernie has a Major incentive at Fancourt
ERNIE Els this week begins a desperate bid to regain a top-50 spot in the world rankings to ensure that he makes it into the line-up for the first Major of the year, the Masters in April.
The former World No 1 has fallen to 71st in the rankings, and the only way he can climb back up again is to start playing well – and he gets his first chance in 2012 to do just that in this week’s 2 million Volvo Golf Champions event at The Links at Fancourt, situated in George in the southern Cape, just a 15-minute drive from his home at Herold’s Bay.
“So, the golf course is literally just down the road, and I won’t even have to pack my bags for this one,” he says. “I can sleep in my own bed and still enjoy some good old home cooking. There are maybe only two or three tournaments a year where I can do that, so it’s a real treat.
“Actually, Fancourt is a treat any time you play it, and I’ve had some memorable experiences there over the years, notably in South African Opens and in the Presidents Cup. I also filmed my first ever instruction book and video there, and that’s going back even further in time … all the way to 1994, in fact! It’s a special place, and The Links is a great golf course. I can’t think of a better location to tee off my new season.
“The first tournament of the new calendar year always feels like a new beginning. I love it. And even after 20-plus years as a tournament professional, I still get excited about the prospect of a year’s competitive golf ahead of me.”
Exclusive
Els will be looking for a bunch of birdies to start his new season on a high from Thursday this week, where he joins seven fellow South Africans – Charl Schwartzel, Louis Oosthuizen, Retief Goosen, Thomas Aiken, Garth Mulroy, Hennie Otto and Branden Grace in the 35-man line-up reserved exclusively for champions.
Grace’s maiden European Tour victory in the Joburg Open on Sunday not only earned the 23-year-old over R2.1 million in prize-money, but along with it goes a coveted spot in the Volvo Champions.
For the South Africans, playing at home is a distinct advantage in an event with no halfway cut and a total prize fund of approximately R21 million, with the winner taking home roughly R3.5 million.
The South Africans have dominated the start of the 2012 European Tour. Grace’s triumph in the Joburg Open and Louis Oosthuizen’s victory in the Africa Open sees them occupy the first and second place in the Race to Dubai.
Apart from Grace’s late inclusion, the Volvo event is restricted to players who won on the European Tour last year, as well as players who have more than 10 career Tour victories to their name.
Some of the greats falling into this category are Open champion Darren Clarke, two-time Open winner Padraig Harrington, Miguel Ángel Jiménez, José María Olazábal, Colin Montgomerie and Robert Karlsson.