Ernie Els lashes out at Wentworth ground staff for poor caretaking of the course
While Englishman Luke Donald was weighing his options to land the coveted BMW PGA Championship over the weekend, three-time major winner Ernie Els was engulfed with problems of his own making.
The veteran South African, who was given the charge of redesigning the Wentworth course some two years ago and had also done some tweaking last year, was apparently not happy with the conditions on ground.
After the completion of third round, Els lashed out at the Wentworth staff for not watering the fairways properly and expressed his disappointment for the poor conditions.
He said, 'Really, I am (ticked) off. I've asked them to put water on the bloody greens and then I spoke to J.P. coming up the 15th and he said, 'We did water it last night.' I said you have to triple that. You have a d**n 30 mph easterly breeze blowing so put (expletive) water on the greens”.
Els, who was criticised for his work on the sprawling Wentworth by some of the renowned golfers, was already on the edge of his nerves for better reviews this year and was particularly critical of the grounds work on the course.
He added, “So now we have another situation and the guys aren't going to be very happy”.
His outburst on the ground staff was bound to have serious repercussions from the European Tour officials as the players regardless of whether hay have been the designer themselves, are not allowed to admonish the grounds staff.
Els later called in European Tour chief George O’Grady and apologised for his remarks.
O’ Grady later revealed that Els has apologised for his reckless behaviour and the matter is now closed.
He said, “Ernie Els asked to see me this morning and apologized for his intemperate language”.
Els switched over to course designing business a few years back and has done well so far, designing and refurbishing several well known course around the world.
He has also renovated the Mission Hills in China and the TPC Sawgrass, venue of the Players Championship on PGA Tour.
O'Grady also revealed that Els has committed a hefty sum for the European Tour Benevolent Fund.
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