Ernie Els wins the PGA Grand Slam of Golf
Ernie Els won the PGA Grand Slam of Golf on Wednesday 20 October. The Grand Slam was being played at Port Royal Golf Course in Southampton, Bermuda. Els took home $600,000 in winnings while David Toms
received $300,000 as runner-up.
The 36-hole event is perhaps the most exclusive event in professional golf because it features only four men in its field.
The original plan for the event was to assemble the four major winners of that season and have them battle it out in one last event before the start of the next season but in years past only some of the major
winners have been able to participate due to scheduling conflicts.
This year the event headlined two major winners, U.S Open champion Graeme McDowell, PGA Championship winner Martin Kaymer, as well as two alternates Toms and Els. Toms was the replacement for British
Open winner Louis Oosthuizen while Els replaced Masters winner Phil Mickelson.
Tuesday’s first round saw Toms get off to an early one-stroke lead over Els with a round of 67. Both Mcdowell and Kaymer found themselves trailing early on in the event with rounds of 72 and 74 respectively,
and never found themselves in contention in the final round, both finishing eight shots back of Els’s fiv- under total.
Final round
At one point in the second round Toms had stretched his lead by as much as three strokes over Els after chipping in for birdie on the 12th hole and seeing Els bogey the 225 yard 13th. Els bounced back
making a succession of birdies starting on 14, despite seeing Toms chip-in again, this time for par.
Els spoke of the two Toms chip-ins after the round saying: “when a guy does it once, you’re thinking, ‘Good shot.’ When he does it twice in three holes, you’re thinking maybe he’s destined to win this
thing,”
Oddly this second chip-in, Els believed, did more good for him then bad.
“It took a bit of the pressure off me in a way, where I freewheeled it, tried to see how close I could get to him,” said the South African.
The turning point occurred on the 412-yard 15th hole, where Els converted for birdie and Toms made bogey, tying the match back up. Els made his third consecutive birdie on the 16th, giving himself a one
stroke lead going into the final two holes.
On the 17th the “Big Easy” found himself in a precarious position facing a ten foot putt for par, but was unfazed rolling it in and giving himself a one-shot cushion going to the 18th where he made par.
Els spoke of the putt afterwards saying, “I was missing those putts. Maybe I was owed one, and that was it.”
Toms, despite the loss, remained upbeat about his final round telling reporters: “I didn’t necessarily lose this thing.” Pointing to Els’s three birdies and adding, “I’d say he won the tournament. For
me to go through those holes, play them under par, would have been a pretty good feat in itself. He played them 3 under.”
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