GOLF: Jon Swift
IT IS a measure of the determination, talent and sheer guts of the man that Ernie Els would come back from the bitter disappointment of the US PGA the way he has. To understand that, it is worth recalling one of the oldest maxims of professional golf: you can win the Masters one week and miss the cut the next.
It is this aspect of golf which makes it such an intriguing game. The rough always lies right alongside the fairway, the bunkers are always there to turn a shot rifling in at the flag into a scramble to up-and- down for par.
Even a seemingly perfect putt can become a wayward miss. Nothing more amply illustrated this aspect of the game than the heart-rending one that got away from Els on the 16th at Riviera. Battling to hold his game together off the tee, Els had fought back at eventual winner Steve Elkington and rotund Scot Colin Montgomerie throughout the frustrating round.
It is history now that the putt did a complete circuit of the lip of the hole and then agonisingly stayed out. Had it dropped, Els would have been right back in the hunt, could have relaxed a little over the last few holes and perhaps added a second major to his 1994 US Open triumph.
This never happened. Golf, to quote the old saw, is a game won by inches. This marginality is the ethos, the heart of the sporting pastime foisted on the world by the Scots. It also has the effect of turning the top players into either philosophers or basket cases. And in both instances, the verbal outpourings on a round — good, bad or indifferent — tend to be of the “I’ll just play one shot at a time” variety. And with yet another round, yet another tournament looming, there is truly nothing different to say — and that’s how it is with the details of Els’ failure to hold onto that three-shot lead going into the final round of the PGA at Riviera last weekend.
This merely underlines the impartiality of the game to individuals and echoes the fate which has befallen many of the game’s leading exponents. World No 1 Greg Norman is just one, and on more than one occasion Nick Price, the man he reclaimed top spot on the world rankings from, is another. Both these men have taken it on the jaw and come roaring back. For in the analysis, there is always another shot, always another round and generally another tournament.
And there will be weeks when even the world No 1 will miss the halfway cut and not make a cheque. In this the game differs widely from some of the other contenders in the big-money sport stakes. In tennis, first round losers still earn enough to keep a middling-sized squatter camp in bread and beans for a month. In baseball, basketball and the other sports which generate both individual megabucks and superstardom, the cheque comes in; win, lose or draw.
Golf is not like that. Miss the top 60 after 36 holes and it’s pack your bags, pay your caddy and move on to the practice tee at the next tournament.
That said, it is apposite to return to Els, who admittedly picked up a substantial amount for third place at Riviera, but nevertheless had to pack his bags and his disappointment and move on to the next tournament as an also-ran. So, the opening round 69 the South African recorded to lie two shots back in second behind Davis Love III in the Ernst Championship at Overlake Golf and Country Club, was a round of special
Els has shown that he has both the talent and the temperament to step beyond the pitfalls of the week behind him. In this ability lies the seeds of golfing