The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Els keen to see Wentworth players smiling again
ERNIE ELS hopes the moaning and groaning about his new-look Wentworth becomes a thing of the past at the BMW PGA Championship this week.
Paul Casey, Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood have been among the critics since the Surrey course was toughened up two years ago.
Casey called it “a grind”, while Poulter said after a second-round 74 completed with a doublebogey seven last May: “You’re watching, you tell me, is it fun?”
Further changes have been made since, among them the 12th hole reverting to a par five and the fringe rough around the final green making it less likely that balls will spin into the water – as happened to Westwood as he lost a play-off and the world number one spot to Luke Donald.
Els said: “He didn’t hit that bad a shot. The pencourse alty was quite severe.
“Criticism is always tough to take, but if it’s granted in the right way I’m fine with it.
“The way it was put f orward the first year was a little childish (he hated the fact it was played out in the media rather than in private), but hopefully we’ll have more smiling faces from the players this year.
“You make changes on a great course like the West Course people are going to not like it.
“That’s part of what we do as designers, but I think we’ve passed that bridge.
“It’s history and we’ve patched things up with all the players. You’re not going to please everybody, but I don’t believe everybody should criticise just because there’s changes.”
Although it was bathed in sunshine yesterday, the condition of the has been the main concern in recent weeks.
Head greenkeeper Chris Kennedy described it as “the most difficult build up I have ever known”, adding: “March was the warmest and driest in 120 years and April was the wettest on record.
“Now May is shaping up to be the coldest in decades. We’ve had hail, white frosts and driving rain. It’s been so hard getting quality grass to grow.”