News
Friday, June 13, 2008
Couple Of Familiar Faces Are Back
By Alex Davidson
San Diego – Ernie Els dropped from third to fourth in the world rankings just prior to the 108th U.S. Open. He dropped from the radar of favorites, too.
“I didn't have too much going on this week, and I could just work on my game, which is great,” said Els, a two-time winner of the Open, in 1994 and ’97. “But, still, you want to get mentioned a little.”
He will now. So will his playing partner, Geoff Ogilvy, the 2006 Open winner.
The two former champions, sinking birdie putts and saving pars, spurred each other on late Thursday at Torrey Pines Golf Course and shot themselves into contention in the year’s second major championship. Ogilvy rallied from a poor start and made a few clutch par putts down the stretch to register a 2-under-par 69 on Torrey South, just one off the lead set by Kevin Streelman and Justin Hicks.
Els, who has missed just one cut in 15 previous Opens but hadn’t been in contention since 2004 at Shinnecock Hills, mixed four birdies with three bogeys for a 1-under par 70 that put him in a tie for seventh place.
Despite his ’06 victory, Ogilvy broke par for the first time in 15 Open rounds dating back to ’03. Els last better par in the second round at Shinnecock, where he tied for ninth after entering the final round playing in the last pairing with eventual winner Retief Goosen.
“It's nice to play with the guys making a few birdies in this thing,” said Ogilvy, who didn’t panic after bogeying two of his first three holes. “Justin (Rose, the third member of the group who shot 79) really didn't play that bad. He had a tough day. He had missed two or three short putts in a row.
“You know, if you're playing with two guys that are having not a fun day, it maybe gets a little more difficult. When you're playing with a guy that's making a few birdies, it's just a nice mood in the group on the tee.”
Els hasn’t been in the best of moods of late. He came to Torrey Pines having missed five of the last six cuts after winning the Honda Classic, his first PGA Tour victory in four seasons. Working on swing changes with Butch Harmon, the Big Easy has been hitting it better, but not scoring.
“I've always been a guy that's been able to score, even though I might hit some ugly golf shots. But I started … I couldn't score, you know, the last couple of weeks. And I ended up hitting some really very nice golf shots. (But) it's all about scoring out there, isn't it? I can tell you I'm hitting it great, but I'm not scoring. That doesn't mean anything.”
Not only is he employing Butch Harmon, but he’s brought back mental guru Jos Vanstiphout into the fold. “I got a little down on myself, and I think that's why I got Jos back. My wife has been talking to me a little bit. It starts with a good golf swing and from there you can move forward.”
It helped that he wasn’t stumbling over a huge gallery. By switching places in the world rankings with Adam Scott, Els missed playing in the featured pairing with Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson.
“Ernie … didn’t know whether he was happy or sad to drop out,” Ogilvy said. “That's a fine group. Adam, I had that at Medinah (in the 2006 PGA Championship) a couple of years ago. It's where you want to be.”
And if you’re not there, be near the lead. Ogilvy, who earlier this year won the World Golf Championship-CA Championship for his first title since his Open triumph at Winged Foot, finds himself in the top 10 after one round for the third year in a row. Like Els, he’s been hitting the ball well, but his last few starts have resulted in top-10 finishes.
“I'm playing pretty well. I played really well at Colonial, Memorial, without playing great,” Ogilvy, who recently moved near Torrey Pines for the summer to get his family out of the Arizona heat. “It was just nice. I'm hitting it decent and putting okay, just a putt or two away from being right there at the end, at the end of the week. I played really well ever since the Florida Swing, really. I had it rough in Augusta and Sawgrass, but one of those things. Again, just didn't make the putts at the right time. But the golf, pretty happy where it's at.”
Of course, he knew it was his first sub-par round in the U.S. Open.
“Yeah, I’ve got one of those under my belt now,” he said.
But neither he nor Els are now under the radar.
Alex Davidson is a freelance writer whose work has appeared previously on www.usopen.com.
