Ernie Els scares the RBC Canadian Open officials with a comment of his non-participation
Right after winning the British Open at the Royal Lytham and St Annes Golf Club, Ernie Els scared the RBC Canadian Open organizers when he joked about missing the tournament next week.
While accepting the Claret Jug on the 18th tee, he told that he was going to fly to London where he planned to meet his family.
"I'm going to try and come and see you this evening. I'm supposed to go to Canada but I think I'm going to blow that thing off," Els said amusingly.
This gave a straight signal that he will not be a part of the Canadian Open field this year. However, he clarified his comment later on by saying that he will be there at the Hamilton Golf and Country Club on Tuesday rather than Monday.
"There's a golf day for Mike Weir in Toronto. But I'll speak to (RBC executives), maybe they'll let me off on that one and I'll be there Monday evening. I'd love to see the family this evening and maybe try and fly out (Monday) morning".
According to the Canadian Open officials, they watched the whole speech in order to confirm whether Els was just kidding or was he serious about his comment.
"Oh yeah. You're watching like everyone else," a tournament’s spokeman Dan Pino said. "There's so much stuff happening for a champion. Who knows what's on their mind, right?"
After getting a confirmation of his participation, the RBC Canadian Open Tournament Director Bill Paul said that he did understand Els had some post-major-win commitments.
Still, he considered appearing in the event, which was a great pleasure for the officials. He also told that Els officially informed the organizers about his late arrival at the venue.
A week ago, no one could have imagined that Els will be such a big star once again. However, the game of golf has once again proved itself as one of the most non-anticipated games of the world.
Prior to the start of the Open Championship, Els was just an underdog, as he was winless since his victory in the South African Open in 2010.
The RBC Canadian Open will officially begin on Thursday, July 26, 2012.
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