Ernie Els is hoping it will be 13th time lucky when he tees off in The Masters in Augusta on Thursday.
The big South African has carved out an impressive record at Augusta since his first appearance in 1994 with six top 10 finishes, including runner-up slots in 2000 and 2004.
But winning a green jacket to call his own has been an achievement that so far has eluded the three-times Major winner and crowd favourite.
”I haven’t got a problem with number 13,” Els said after completing his first practice round on Tuesday in the company of compatriot Retief Goosen.
”I’ve had so many good tournaments here through the years and a couple of close calls.
”But all in all I’ve got a pretty decent record around Augusta.
I’ve done almost everything but win.”
This year to date it has been a case of gradually clawing his way back to full fitness and peak form following the water-ski accident last summer that left him on the sidelines for months after undergoing knee surgery.
He returned to action with a bang by winning his first tournament since the surgery in the Dunhill Championship in South Africa in December and followed that up with second place finishes at the South African Open and in the Dubai Desert Classic, where he lost out to Tiger Woods in a play-off.
But his form has been sketchy since returning to the US PGA Tour and in his comments it is clear that he is having to learn how to continue to get the best out of himself while playing with a knee that is still not 100%.
”The knee is not too bad, but it has been hard work coming back,” he said with a shrug.
”It’s pretty good when it’s nice and warm and we’re going to have good weather this week.
”I’ve obviously had to really work hard on little bad habits I got into because of trying to protect the knee a bit. I think I’ve gotten over that.”
On the plus side, Els pointed to a much improved performance two weeks ago at the Players Championship especially with a final round of 71 that put him into a tie for eighth place.
And he says he is once again enjoying the South African cameraderie that links himself, two-times US Open Champion Retief Goosen and triple Masters winner Gary Player at the Majors.
”We used to play before almost every Major together although Gary not anymore. This is the only Major Gary still plays,” he said.
”I still play with Retief quite a lot in practice rounds. Played with Trevor Immelman this morning. So we kind of stick together in the Majors.”
Turning to the punishing changes that have added a total of 155 yards to the already daunting Augusta National layout, Els said that he was planning to include for the first time since junior golf, a five-wood in his bag to replace his two or three-iron.
”I can hit that club 245 yards and hit it quite high. So I can stop it on the greens from that distance,” he said. – Sapa-AFP