Ernie Els hopes to make a U-turn in his bid for the US Open
Ernie Els became the rising hope of South Africa when he took the better of the rest of the field of the US Open in 1997 to win his second US Grand Slam at the age of 27. Els, who had previously won the 1994 episode of the US Open, bagged his second major
title of the sport at an early age and promised to earn more laurels for the country.
Els' third and last major victory so far, came in 2002 when he won the Open Championship. Since then, the South African star has been trying to repeat history in his ventures in the championships around the world, unfortunately though, he has found little
luck.
The 41-year-old star will now be teeing-off for another of his major bids at the US open this week and admits that the year, so far, has been a shear disappointment.
"I've thought about that because since that U.S. Open, I haven't done anything," Els said. "Well, I won the South African Open, but other than that, I haven't done anything."
Els was poised to be one of the greatest players of the sport to have come out of South Africa on the likes of Gary Player and Trevor Immelman when he won his third major title, but the six-feet-three has hardly been prolific in the later years. Many of
his fans consider his son’s suffering from Autism as the major reason of his deteriorating form, something which has pushed him into obscurity.
From 2004 onwards, Els remained winless for four staggering years and slumped to an all time career low in the rankings. He accosted a career renaissance last year when he won the WGC Cadillac Championship, where he defeated his countryman Charl Schwartzel
with a comprehensive four-stroke victory and went over to win the Arnold Palmer Invitational the next week.
Els was inducted into the Hall of Fame earlier this year, although he has not won any tournament for the season. His worst break down came at pebbles beach last year where he threw away what could have been a comfortable victory over his competitor Graeme
McDowell. He posted a final round score of two-over, 73 to finish for joint third, two shots behind the leader. As Els would recall, he played splendid golf throughout the weekend but on his final back nine, he kept missing inside eight feet on every hole
he played.
The sturdy South African is hoping to reverse the trend at this week’s US Open where he will be trying his luck for the 18th time in his career. He missed the cut at last year’s Open Championship and finished tied for 18th in the PGA
Championship. His Masters bid this year ended on a sad note when he closed his final round for a joint 47. Els blames his sense of urgency and lack of patience in his attempts to reverse the downslide as the source of his slump.
"That's been part of my problem is trying to change things around and getting back to normalcy. But my sense of urgency is very much there. I'm putting a lot of work into my game. I need to basically find a way of letting it happen and am waiting for that
week to happen. So maybe this week," said Els.
With Tiger Woods out of the field this week, the event is likely to fall in any player’s lap who might be able to outcast the rest of the players on the final day.
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