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The Masters preview
I'm a huge fan of major golf tournaments, and I will be glued to the TV this weekend. The Masters at Augusta starts tomorrow, Thursday.
One of my favourite golfers is Ernie Els. So far, he hasn't yet managed to clinch victory at Augusta, but had a few good second finishes. The last was in 2004, when a motivated Phil Mickelson denied him victory by storming past him in an awesome birdie run to the 18th hole.
Here is Ernie's Masters preview:
Masters Preview, 6 April
I guess when you’re tied-112th after the first day’s play you might say that finishing tied-14th wasn’t a bad result in the end. And yeah, I’d probably go along with that line of thinking. I mean, I had a horrible nine holes in round one at last week’s Shell Houston Open which contributed to a 75. But I followed that up with a great round of 66 on Friday, which included seven birdies, and then I played some pretty good stuff over the weekend to finish six-under par overall. It wasn’t the perfect week but, as I said, it wasn’t such a bad result in the end.
Every year I always try and get my game figured out in the early part of the season to generate some confidence going into the Masters. That was my intention again this year, playing those tough courses in the Florida swing and also last week in Houston. While I haven’t necessarily been satisfied with my results, I have been satisfied with many aspects of my game. And now we’re in Masters’ week I’m looking forward to the challenge of golf’s first major.
Augusta National is a very different golf course to the one I first played in 1994. But you still get very excited. Hey, it's still the Masters!
Back in the mid-90s you could easily reach a lot of the par-5s. And on some of the par-4s you were going in with a short-iron, so on holes like 7, 11 and 17 you could be very aggressive. Nowadays the par-5s are a much bigger challenge and you’ll see guys play away from flags a lot more on par-4s. Take the 11th hole. You're going in there with a 3-iron or something, with the wind whipping into you. The fact of the matter is, professionals are not going to go for a ‘tucked’ flag on a par-4 with water on the left and the wind howling. You'll play safe; it’s natural. I think that’s the main reason the last couple of years, especially the final rounds, it's been a bit subdued here. It’s just the way the golf course is set-up.
I would say there isn’t any doubt now that Augusta is one of the toughest courses in the world. And if the weather turns and the flag positions are in certain parts, man, it is extremely difficult. There’s a lot of slope on the greens and they are very firm and super-quick. But this is a major championship and I understand that they want to try and test the players to the max. We all know how it’s going to be and if you ask any player, they’ll all say the same thing. You want to be coming back here forever!
I’ve had some pretty good runs over the years. Obviously the one that stands out is 2004, where I played a great last round and just got beat by Phil, but actually between 2000 and 2004 I had five consecutive top-six finishes here. I know this golf course; I know what it takes to do well here. But it is a very unforgiving golf course. You have to be right on top of your game or you struggle; it’s as straightforward as that.
Last year was very disappointing missing the cut, but at the same time it was unbelievable to see Trevor win. I've known Trevor ever since he was five or six years old and he's always been a phenomenal player. I stayed in Augusta on Saturday last year and watched the broadcast on television and I thought he was swinging the best of all the guys they showed that day. I called him on Saturday night and I said exactly that to him. I don't know how much he took in, but I just wanted him to know that I felt he was playing the most solid golf. I know Gary Player called him, too. He had a lot of support, but obviously he had to do the job the next day and I thought he did a great job. No South African had won the Masters since Gary in 1978, so it was a really big deal back home.
This year I arrived in Augusta on Sunday evening and I’ve scheduled to play nine holes with Louis Oosthuizen on Monday; this is his debut and, as you will have probably read on this site, he’s the first former member of the Ernie Els & Fancourt Foundation to play in the Masters. No doubt we’ll talk some more about that in an interview with the Golf Channel which is scheduled for after we play together on Monday.
Then on Tuesday I have a practice round organised with Gary Player, Retief Goosen and Richard Sterne. I always like to play a practice round here with Gary. Seeing him win the Masters in 1978 – you know, that made such an impact on me. Obviously being from South Africa he was a hero of mine and he still is. And watching my hero win the biggest tournament in the world was quite something, I can tell you.
And the way he did it, too, making that putt on 18. And there was his playing partner Seve going crazy; man, he was almost happier than Gary was! That gave me a lot of inspiration; it made me want to be a professional golfer and some day to be in that same situation. I think any youngster at that age, you want to have a hero to look up to and you want to become like your hero. That’s true in all walks of life. You need some kind of inspiration and that's what Gary has always been to me.
I still have a goal to complete the Grand Slam, just as Gary did in his career, and that ambition will stay with me until I stop playing out here. To achieve that, I have to win here at the Masters. As always, I’ll be giving it absolutely every ounce of energy and concentration that I can muster.
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Originally Posted by Trefelin
I believe the Open will be at St. Andrews in 2010 ...
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