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MELBOURNE, Australia – For more than two decades, Ernie Els has been stymied by Tiger Woods. More than any other golfer, Els has been Woods’s whipping boy, such as the time he was one of the golfers who finished tied for second 15 strokes behind him in second place at the 2000 U.S. Open. There’s no telling how many more trophies Els would have hoisted if not for the force of nature that is Woods.
“You know, he’s not a bad golfer, you know what I mean?” Els cracked. “A lot of tournaments come through my mind now where I’ve come close and lost to him, but there was a couple where I got him, you know, here and there.”
One of their memorable clashes took place at the 2003 Presidents Cup in South Africa. Woods beat Els handily in the singles 4 and 3, and then they battled in a sudden-death playoff for three holes until darkness and an inconvenient draw.
“I thought I had him beat for once,” Els said. “He had a left-to-right putt, four foot of break seemed like and in darkness. I had a pretty straight one going up the hill. But I really thought maybe this time he was going to miss one. But he poured it in.”
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Els said he thinks they would’ve played on to a standstill for another few hours if the match had continued. This week, these two great champions will continue their rivalry as Presidents Cup captains. Els joked that he is the last remaining participant from the 1998 International squad that trounced the U.S. 20-11 here at Royal Melbourne Golf Club for its lone victory in 12 previous Cups.
“That was a wonderful time. I still remember that very clearly, how the guys played, the team spirit we had that week, how they individually stood tall,” Els recalled. “Looking back at ’98, we basically didn’t have a bad session. We got off to a great start on the first day, which really got the crowd fired up. Day two was huge. Everything seemed to go our way and I remember Craig Parry chipping in on 18 to win a tight match 1-up. Those little moments, they create a lot of momentum. Overall, I think we putted a bit better than they did; that’s often the difference in matchplay. Inevitably a lot of the matches were close and it just comes down to one key moment, one putt, here or there.”
What will Els do to ensure the Internationals are partying at Royal Melbourne again like its 1998?
“We talked about that,” Els said. “You know, we are doing this thing as a team. I’ve got a young team and so forth, as we did back in ’98, and at the end of the day, it’s 18 holes of match play. We’ve seen what can happen.”
Els has a deep affection for Royal Melbourne, where he holds the course record of 60. For four years, beginning in 2002, this Sand Belt gem felt like his home golf course when he played the Heineken Classic there (three consecutive wins starting in 2003). Els said he will draw from past captains like Australian Peter Thomson and from his own vast experience playing in eight previous Presidents Cups, and will try to pass along some of his secrets to mastering the Alistair MacKenzie masterpiece to his team, which is a combination of youth and experience.
“I know the golf course quite well,” Els said in an understatement. “Maybe they’ll listen to me. You never know. That would be nice.”
Els has done his homework on the course and studied a vast array of statistics and data in making up his lineup for Thursday’s opening Four-Ball session. (They’re safely locked away in his phone, he said.) He knows his team is the underdog, but he remembers what happened in 1998 and thinks it could happen again. As Australian Adam Scott so elegantly put it, “It’d be great to stick it to Tiger and the entire American team.”
Els put his own spin on things. After being deferential to Woods and his brilliance and saying that “it’s been a real privilege to have played in his era,” Els delivered this kicker:
“So with all that being said and done, you know, we’d like to kick their asses this week here at home.”
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