ELS to Win 2010 Open?
Every golf fan and golfer knows that a win at a St. Andrews Open is a nod of elite status in the golfing world. The St-Andrews course has a way of highlighting the best golfers, with American all-star Tiger Woods having won it two times, preceded by such household names as John Daly, Nick Faldo and two-time champion Jack Nicklaus.
Despite his great scores at previous Opens, Woods is not a favourite to win The Open with only a 1 ½ shot to win a third time. Fellow Team U.S. player, Phil Mickelson’s may have great odds to win it, but with his disappointing run at the British Open generally, all eyes should turn to South-African professional golfer, Ernie Els.
Some have started to question his Open status after missing the cut at the 2010 Barclay’s Scottish Open at Loch Lomond. But if you know golf, you know that the Scottish Open has never meant much in terms of preparation for The Open. In fact, many golfers play the course for preparation, even though year after year those who do well at the Scottish Open fail to make any kind of impact at The Open. Even 21-year old rising star-Irishman Rory McIlroy knew enough to skip the Scottish Open to prepare for St. Andrews, and look how well he has started.
Looking merely at Els' recent performances, his two wins this year on the U.S. Tour and his third place standing at Pebble Beach, Els is obviously a contender to beat. The South African has an ability to play in unpredictable weather that matches, if not even beats, Irish golfer Darren Clarke’s recent demonstration at the Scottish Open and he placed second behind Woods at Pebble Beach and at St. Andrews’ in 2000. These factors combine to give him a great chance at victory.
Of course many are looking at his devastating loss at the 2010 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach as a reason to dismiss the golfer as any kind of real competitor at The Open. Els was a favourite to bring it home on that fateful Sunday at the U.S. Open where he started the final round quickly going three-under par, but when he went bogey, double-bogey and then bogey once again, all was lost, giving Irish golfer Graeme McDowell the win by two strokes. This loss filled the South-African with disappointment, as he told the Vancouver Sun: “I was just so hot-headed because I really felt I had a chance to win.”
He sums up his loss at the U.S. Open as self-destruction, telling the Vancouver Sun: “Phil (Mickelson) did the same and Tiger (Woods) did the same. But I was so disappointed because I had the perfect start and I just needed to keep it alive. At worst, I would have been in a playoff. I just self-destructed.” With St. Andrews being a course on which he usually finishes extremely well, all Els needs to bring to The Open is the good start that he brought to Pebble Beach. If he can continue his solid start at The Open (three under after the first round) with a couple more good rounds, the rest of the field better watch out because he has proven he can finish strong.
Despite a loss at Loch Lomond and his collapse at Pebble Beach, Els is having an especially great season. He is leading the FedEx standings in the U.S. and he sits second on the European Tour Order of Merit on his side of the Atlantic. If he can manage not to self-destruct, he could very well take home The Open too. This is very important to Els, who has won a British Open before, but who believes that a golf career is more complete with a win at St. Andrews.
He spoke of his strong desire to win at St. Andrews to the Vancouver Sun: “This is where the game started. This is the original way the game is played. I took to links golf very naturally, somehow. I don’t know why, because I grew up in Johannesburg, South Africa, where the closest thing to a links course is the N3 Highway.” Els knows that all he has to do is to get into the position he started with at Pebble Beach and then, as he jokes to the Vancouver Sun, he’d like to finish it off the same way for a change.
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