Ernie Els RSS Feed

Singapore to Japan, 17 November

The Barclays Singapore Open is such a well-run tournament, which is just as well, because when Mother Nature decides to throw in a curve ball you need some good people in charge! We had some rough weather last week, but all credit to the guys; they did a great job getting us to the stage where we could actually wrap things up on Sunday afternoon.

I had a chance to win and hit some great putts coming down the stretch. Sadly, the key putts stayed above ground. Maybe the gods were not with me this time. It was disappointing, obviously, but 6-under par was a pretty good score on a very tough golf course this week. And Jeev Milkha Singh is a great guy; I’m very happy for him.

Okay, so let me give you a quick recap of the week. The first couple of rounds I was fairly satisfied with my game. I played really well to shoot 66 in the first round. And I hit the ball good in the second round as well; I just found it a bit more difficult to score out there. The flag positions were tougher than on day one and also I could have done a bit more with the putter. But all in all 70 wasn't a bad round of golf, especially with all the interruptions due to the rain.

The last two rounds – you know, I just didn’t really get it going out there. I shot level par in the third round and then didn’t make the best of starts to my final round, being one-over par through 12 holes. But I holed a 20-footer for birdie on 16 and that kind of put me right in the hunt.

Actually I had chances on the last four greens and, as I said at the start of this report, I hit a great putt every time. To be honest, I don't know how they didn't all go in. I mean, the putts on 15, 17 and 18 looked in all the way but in the final few inches my golf ball decided it was afraid of the dark! It goes to show golf really is a game of tiny margins. If any one of those putts had gone in, I’d have been in a play-off. As it was, I had to settle for a tie for second place alongside Padraig Harrington.

Any time you have a chance to win and don’t it is disappointing, but on the other hand I left Singapore on Monday morning feeling generally quite upbeat about my game. I flew straight to Miyazaki Airport in Japan to get ready to tee it up this week in the Dunlop Phoenix tournament.

I haven’t played in this event for 10 years, but it has a special place in my memory bank. In 1993 this was my first big tournament win outside my home country of South Africa. That was a real breakthrough win for me in my career and still I can remember it well. I broke 70 every day and ended up shooting 17-under par for the tournament, beating a field that included guys like Seve, Tom Watson, Freddie Couples, Vijay, Phil Mickelson and a bunch of other good players. As a young guy that performance gave me a ton of confidence and the feeling that I could really start to achieve some things in this game. And it really opened some doors for me, too. It’ll be good to come back and play here again.

I’ve got a couple of photo shoots to do on Tuesday morning, including an interview on behalf of my sponsor Callaway. Then it’s Pro-Am on Wednesday before the serious business starts on Thursday. I’m looking forward to it and I’ll write next week and tell you all about it.

Bye for now, though.

Rust en Vrede's award-winning Shiraz

For many years the Engelbrecht family and their winemakers have when it comes to Shiraz always known the true potential of Stellenbosch’s Helderberg region. Rust en Vrede has a distinctive history of producing award-winning Shiraz and Shiraz blends.

Kevin Arnold is a former winemaker for Rust en Vrede and is now running his own winery in the Helderberg, Waterford Estate. Kevin is also producing stunning award-winning Shiraz. There is a reason that winemakers in this area call it the ‘golden triangle’!

Each winemaker has distinct ideas as to what exactly it is that makes the Helderberg region produce such unique wines. Opinions vary from the soil types, climatic conditions, or the chosen grape varietal. At the end of the day, they conclude that Shiraz is the ideal grape for the Helderberg.

Rust en Vrede’s own winemaker, Coenie Snyman, has recently found success with two soon-to-be-released wines. These wines are both perfect examples of the expression of Shiraz from the Rust en Vrede property. When Coenie and Jean Engelbrecht (proprietor) started conceptualising these two wines, they both knew that Shiraz had to play a major role. Both the Rust en Vrede Syrah* and the Rust en Vrede 1694 blend (named for the year the governor of the Cape granted rights to the land) come for the same single vineyard block, block seven, which has a proven history of producing premium Shiraz fruit.

Coenie recently entered these two new wines into the prestigious South African Veritas Awards, not knowing what to expect as the wines had not yet been released. Of 1753 wines entered into the competition, these wines rose to the top. To Coenie’s delight, each wine was awarded the Double Gold Medal (two of only 36 awarded). All of us from the Engelbrecht/Els team congratulate Coenie on this great achievement!

*Syrah and Shiraz both come from the same grape varietal and, for all intensive purposes, produce the same wine. Some winemakers do differentiate between the two in winemaking style, Syrah being more of the old-world, elegant style and Shiraz being more of a new-world, bold style.

Career Wins

Up to this point in time Ernie Els has 64 professional career victories to his name, including three Major Championships and a record seven World Matchplay titles. Not only is he one of the most prolific winners of his generation, but the global reach of his victories is almost without parallel. Ernie has triumphed in tournaments all over the world; in Europe, the United States, Asia, the Far East, the Middle East and Australasia.

Total wins to date: 64

New Greens for the West Course

Following on from the modernisation and refinements under guidance of Ernie Els in 2006, Wentworth now has the opportunity to reconstruct and modernise all the greens on the West Course to a USGA specification replacing the current poa greens with colonial bent grass. This is the next stage of the journey that we started in 2006 so as to ensure the classic West Course remains an exceptional challenge to both today’s amateur and professional golfer. In making this announcement, Wentworth can provide the following quotations:

Richard Caring, Chairman, Wentworth Club: “As soon as we had the opportunity we immediately went into consultation with our partners in the European Tour and experts in the industry to commence the project. By May 2010 we will have, in my opinion, the best greens in Great Britain. Professional golf tournaments have played a huge part in the history of Wentworth and with these changes we know we will be able to present a fitting test in the future whilst providing our members year-round access to one of the finest inland golf courses in the world.”

George O'Grady, Chief Executive, The European Tour: “The BMW PGA Championship is deservedly recognised as the Players’ Flagship event on The European Tour International Schedule. We are proud that Wentworth Club and the classic West Course have been its home for each of the last 25 years. The project to seriously upgrade the greens reflects the commitment of Richard Caring to further build on the inspirational course changes suggested by Ernie Els and already implemented by Julian Small, Chris Kennedy and all the team at Wentworth Club. Now we look forward to The European Tour’s long and close partnership with Wentworth Club further developing the BMW PGA Championship and all our players being proud to compete in this prestigious event.”

Ernie Els: “When Richard Caring first gave us the green light to modernise and refine the West Course, I think it’s fair to say we all felt that constructing new greens was high on the menu. In the end it came down to timing – you know, having the right window of opportunity to carry out these major works. Now we’ve got a chance to bring the greens up to the standard of the rest of the golf course - and by that, I mean world class. It’s exciting to be a part of these ongoing improvements to the West Course. Ever since I first started coming here, I’ve always felt this is one of the best golf courses in the world – now it’ll have some of the best greens, too.”

Magnus Wiese, Head of BMW Golfsports Marketing: “When embarking upon our sponsorship of the PGA Championship in 2005, we recognised the important role Wentworth Club played in the heritage of the tournament. In conjunction with our partners from the European Tour and Wentworth, our aim has been to consistently improve the quality and experience for all participants. Back in February 2006 Wentworth and Ernie Els completed the course refinements to enhance the bunkering and extend some of the holes on the West and we are delighted that, the Club has now taken the decision to modernise and upgrade the greens. We believe this clearly demonstrates their commitment to the future of the BMW PGA Championship.”

Neil Mutton, Club Captain, Wentworth Club: “The West course has been and always will be very special to the members. The management have given a great deal of thought to this project. Overall I believe the members will see the wholesale upgrading of the greens as another illustration of Richard Caring's long-term commitment to the Club and a way of ensuring that it maintains the status as one of the finest golf & country clubs in the world.”

Chris Kennedy, Courses Manager, Wentworth Club: “This is something we’ve wanted to do for some time and I’m very pleased that the opportunity has now arisen. We recognise that the Harry Colt greens constructed in 1926 do not perform as well as new USGA specification greens. Now that we have the chance to address the issue the objective is to produce a consistent surface of the highest quality on every green on the West Course. When embarking on this project we have worked together with top agronomists from the Sports Turf Research Institute and the European Tour. We chose colonial bent grass for the greens, not just for tournament play but for general play all year round. Working closely with Ernie Els we will also review each green so as to ensure that they become a fitting test for the modern day golfer whilst staying true to Harry Colt’s original vision. Whilst the course is closed we will also be carrying out further work on the fairways, tees, bunkers on the West so as to ensure we have taken every opportunity to improve all possible aspects.”

Julian Small, Chief Executive, Wentworth Club: “We always aim to have exceptional standards of quality here at Wentworth and the West Course is clearly one of our major assets. We’ve selected the time to do this work very carefully so as to ensure that we can hold the BMW PGA Championship here in 2009. We will then start the work, carrying it out at the right time of year so as to be as quick and efficient as possible and minimise disruption to our members. We aim to open the course solely for member and guest play in the latter part of 2009 and we are confident that we will be in a position to have the West Course greens in excellent condition for the 2010 BMW PGA Championship. During the period of closure we will not have any visitor or group play on any of our 3 courses so as to offer exclusive access to our members at all times.”

For more information contact: Julian Small, Chief Executive Tel: 01344 846312 or mobile: 07767431629/ Email: jsmall@wentworthclub.com; Annie Nicholson, Marketing & Communications Manager, Tel: 01344846329 / Email: anicholson@wentworthclub.com

Ernieâ��s end-of-year schedule

In November Ernie plays for the first time in the King Hassan II Trophy in Morocco, followed by the Singapore Open in Shanghai (pictured in 2007). He is then in Japan for the Dunlop Phoenix tournament, where in 1993 he registered his first big win outside South Africa. To view Ernie’s results this season and his schedule leading up to the end of 2008, just click here.

Buy Ernie's lion headcover

Some clubs may come and go, but the distinctive lion headcover has over the years been a permanent fixture in Ernie’s golf bag. You can now buy your own lion headcover, knowing also that the manufacturer Daphne’s Headcovers will donate a portion of the proceeds from all sales to the Ernie Els & Fancourt Foundation. Read more.