Ernie Els enjoys the positives of the Zurich Classic of New Orleans – Golf News
The South African lost to American Jason Dufner on the second extra hole in the playoffs of the Zurich Classic of New Orleans on Sunday, April 29, 2012.
Despite the defeat, Els is pleased to savour the positives out of his performance throughout the tournament at TPC Louisiana.
In the chase for the first victory in two years, Els started off his round with a two-stroke deficit to Dufner. Two birdies and an eagle on the front nine took him four-under for the round through seven holes.
Moreover, he took a short-time lead of two strokes over Dufner with that eagle. He continued his great run and carded another birdie on first hole (10th of the course) on the back nine that earned him a shared place on the top, at the end of the
tournament.
Therefore, the game entered the playoffs where Els missed the chance of a win when his birdie putt bruised the hole on the first extra hole.
"I came close, so it's disappointing but good," the three-time major winner Els told reporters after being defeated by Dufner. "I did play well".
"I made some putts. I missed the one in the playoff but made a lot of putts on the back nine to keep myself in it. It was a nice little charge I made and nice to catch the leader," he continued.
"You know, to play 72 holes, four days of golf and have a putt to win, that's a negative and a positive. It's just one of those things. I just came up short," he added.
Els’ last victory on the PGA Tour came in the Arnold Palmer Invitational in 2010, when he defeated Edoardo Molinari and Kevin Na with a two-stroke margin.
Thereafter, he came close to the wins several times but failed to record one. In 2011, he also went out of the top-50 in the Official World Golf Rankings that caused him to miss the Masters Tournament in 2012 for the first time in 19 years.
However, he now believes that he is returning back to his form that earned him 18 PGA Tour wins in his career.
His second place finish in the tournament has also earned him the 40th place in the world rankings.
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