Veteran South African golfer Ernie Els sank 1.5m on his last hole to move into the top 70 of the PGA tour’s FedEx Cup playoff standings at the Deutsche Bank Championship at the TPC Boston in Massachusetts on Monday.
The FedEx Cup is made up of four events with the field reduced according to the points standings every week.
The top 70 advance to the next event to be played at Cog Hill in Chicago from September 15 to September 18.
His final round 70 was enough to move him up to 68th in the FedEx Cup standings, along with opening rounds of 70, 65 and 71 for a total of eight under par 276 for the tournament. Els shared 16th on the leaderboard, seven shots behind American, Webb Simpson, who won in a playoff.
After making a good sand save on the 17th hole, Els needed to birdie the 18 to ensure he dipped into the top 70.
He launched a drive 321 yards down the fairway, and his second shot with a five iron finished just left of the putting surface. With just over 9m to the hole, the Big Easy hit an average chip leaving a nervous 1.5m to take any further part on this season’s PGA tour.
Sporting his belly putter Els stroked the ball into the hole to grind out a closing birdie.
Bringing out the fight
Speaking in a TV interview after his round, a relieved Els said the unique format of the FedEx Cup gave him new motivation.
“I think it’s great, you never take your form for granted,” said Els. “When your form is up you have to go for it, I haven’t had great form and now I’m scrapping. In a way it’s good for me, it brings out a little bit of fight in me.”
“Now I know my game is just around the corner so hopefully I can get my game going.”
Els has slipped to 33rd in the world rankings and has not had a top 10 this season on the PGA tour.
“I’ve been struggling all year, especially with the putter. Now I’ve gone to the belly putter, the putts that I made today will help me in the future.”
It is an unusual position for the 41-year-old who finished 9th in last season’s FedEx Cup standings.
“It almost feels like you’re defending a tournament or trying to make the cut the way I played out there today,” he said.
“I was happy to make those clutch putts and hopefully I can play a lot better in Chicago.”
A happy ending
Els made mention of his tense finish.
“On 17 I hit it in the bunker and left myself a little slider [for par] and I think it [the putting stroke] looked a little more steady than it has been.”
Knowing he needed to make the final putt on 18 made for a fitting climax.
“That one was a real knee-knocker, because just before I got to the green I saw the board and I was 71st and I knew I had to get it up and down.”
The final event, the Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta and Georgia will have only the top 30 on the FedEx Cup standings eligible and no cut with the limited field. — Sapa