Els: Not just here for the beer

When Ernie Els was a junior he was more or less unbeatable. Nic Henning, who later played on the European tour, used to lose to him all the time, get home and say to his professional father, Graham: ‘You can’t beat Ernie Els.”

Dad would get mad. ‘You have to be more positive,” he would say. ‘Of course you can.”

A year or so later Graham competed in a tournament with Els, was soundly trounced and wryly admitted to his son: ‘You can’t beat Ernie Els.”

As Els got older that tended to be the case until, of course, the rise of Tiger Woods, who soon had the whole world proclaiming: ‘You can’t beat Tiger Woods.”

In 2000 Els felt he played well and yet he finished an incredible 15 strokes behind Woods in the United States Masters and eight behind him in the Open.

But Els is blessed with such a prodigious talent that even Woods could not ignore it. A small army of people shouted at Els, advised him and eventually faith was restored. He won, in perilous circumstances of his own making, the 2002 Open at Muirfield, a win he says was ‘crucial to my career”.

It was his third major and though neither he nor Woods won one last year, Els can hardly wait for the US Masters to begin on Thursday. There is a confidence about him that departed after 2000 and when he plays well now it is, even to old hands, awe-inspiring.

This year he reduced Royal Melbourne, a world top-10 course, to a round of 60 and if he plays like that at Augusta the rest of the field can go home. He feels that the lengthening of the course is a bonus for him.

‘The way Augusta has changed means that it is playing more into the hands of the long hitters,” he says. ‘It’s not a birdie contest any more. It’s a different course. Now you’ve really got to play to get a birdie.

‘To win the Masters at least once is now my main ambition and I go to Augusta with a lot of confidence. It’s so long now that you need to hit your irons well, and I do, so it’s a matter of keeping the putter going. To win majors you have to have had a bit of experience, to have been there before you win, and I’ve got that.”

Els, more than anyone, is aware that three majors in 14 years as a professional do not compare with the eight that Woods has won in half that time. He also knows that, historically, Jack Nicklaus apart, players tend to win their championships during a 10-year period dating from the first.

Els won his first US Open in 1994 but as he is only 34 he disputes the theory.

‘Things are totally different these days,” he says. ‘I’m in better shape than I was 10 years ago. I’m hitting more greens. I’m a better putter. I’m a better player. Period.

‘For the past 10 years I’ve been learning the game. I feel I could really just go boom.”

Adam Scott, hardly an inconsequential player himself, agrees. The Australian played with Els when he shot that 60 and admitted that he had never thought it possible.

‘When Ernie plays his best and Tiger plays his best, there is nothing between them,” he says.

It is indicative of the improved mental attitude of Els that he agrees.

‘I think Scottie is right,” he says. ‘I think a lot of players now, not just myself, when we play well, Tiger has to be at his best and even that might not be good enough any more. A lot of guys have started to play a lot better, myself included, so you know it’s time to play ball, as they say.”

Els may be reaching his peak-performance time but part of the reason he has only three majors may lie in the dominance he had at the start of his career.

‘In a way,” he says, ‘I was invincible. I had a good run, but I also had a good time with the guys. I was definitely not in a mould like some of the youngsters today. I had another life, which involved having a good time, having a very good time — lots of Heinekens.”

Els still likes to relax with a beer or two, but has he ever seen booze as a problem?

‘I think it’s been exaggerated a little bit,” he says, ‘the guys like to talk… I’m maybe a little more relaxed than some of the top players but I do my work — a lot of work nowadays, a lot more than when I was younger. But I have a good circle of friends outside golf.

”We go fishing, hiking, on hunting trips, and I can tell you we don’t drink a lot of lemonade on those trips. But it is not a problem. If you believe me, you do. If not, well, I know where I am.”

Els lives a life unimaginable to him even five years ago. Ask what he thinks are the best things he has done and the reply is quick.

‘Get married and have kids is first, and then right after that is winning some majors and right after that is buying an aeroplane.”

He bought a Gulfstream V three years ago and it has made travelling easier if a great deal more expensive, with costs working out at about £2 200 an hour. Last year he flew for 350 hours and will do much the same this year.

‘We got a good deal on the plane,” Els adds. ‘It was only two years old and came from a company that had to get rid of it. Couldn’t have afforded it otherwise.”

He and Liezl have chosen to live most of the year in Wentworth.

‘We couldn’t live in South Africa,” he says. ‘It is six hours to the east coast of America from London; it’s 15 from Cape Town.”

So why not settle in Florida, where they have another home? That comes down to the children, Samantha and Ben.

‘The education system in the UK is basically the one we grew up with in South Africa and the US system is a little bit foreign to us. They’ll get a great education in England.

‘I am not going to be more than two to three weeks away from them ever and if there is a danger of that they will fly to me, or I will fly to them. I think that’s important. That’s the way I grew up, that’s the way Liezl grew up, with good solid family and friends.”

Things seem to be in place, then.

‘I’ve got the opportunity to win in the age of one of the game’s greatest players ever and I’m up for it, ready for it. I really want to put my name down.” —