“I’ve never given up on any golf round in my life. If I did give up, I would have shot a 100 [at the U.S. Open]. I mean, that’s ridiculous.” – ERNIE ELS
TROON, Scotland – The wounds are obviously still raw to the touch of salt from the final-round 80 he shot to fall ingloriously from contention at last month’s U.S. Open.
And so, when Ernie Els was informed yesterday by The Post of some damning remarks made about him by Tom Meeks – the USGA’s senior director of rules who’s the man in charge of course set-up for the U.S. Open – the easy-going South African uncharacteristically snapped.
First, here are the Meeks comments, made to the Boston Globe two weeks ago:
“I really think Ernie Els gave up after the first hole,” Meeks said. “He double bogeyed [No. 1]. It’s like he gave up, and that’s not like him. The average score [in the final round] was 78.72. Is that what we were after? No. But I don’t think anybody could deny that Retief [Goosen] and Phil [Mickelson] played great golf coming down the stretch.
“There were some golfers who shot considerably higher than they thought they would have shot. But let me also say this: I think a lot of golfers lost their patience and gave up early in the round.”
When told of those words, the incredulous Els was livid, saying he wants Meeks to make those comments to his face.
Meeks is actually here at the British Open this week, according to his USGA office, but yesterday he wasn’t available for comment. It’s not known whether Els ever got to him before day’s end.
“That is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard in my life,” Els said. “I’ve never given up on any golf round in my life. If I did give up, I would have shot a 100. I mean, that’s ridiculous. You know what? They have got no idea. They’ve lost the plot in the story.
“To take one of the best golf courses in this entire world and to make it a farce like that, I mean they’ve got egg on their face. They shouldn’t have said that. [Shinnecock] was out of control. It was really quite unplayable. I went from second to ninth with an 80. That tells you how ridiculous it was.”
Goosen, who grew up with Els and played with him in the final group, had his own observations. He was asked whether Els helped him out once it was clear the Big Easy could not win.
“Not really. He was still trying hard,” Goosen said. “I think after No. 10, that’s when he really sort of gave up.”
By then, Els trailed Goosen by eight shots.
“I think he felt he was well out of it,” Goosen said. “He was trying to encourage me, but in general he was trying to stay away, let me do it myself.”
Heading into the final round, Els said he was playing well enough to win his third U.S. Open title until conditions deteriorated.
“Saturday afternoon, I could see the golf course going,” he said. “And then the next morning it was just gone. It wasn’t necessary, it was such a great golf course.”
With the British Open set to tee off tomorrow, Els still could pass Woods with a win at the British Open and end his almost five-year reign as golf’s top-ranked player.
“It’s important, but for me, to win this tournament is more important [than being No. 1],” said Els, who won the 2002 British Open at Muirfield and finished second to Mickelson at the Masters in April. “That’s what drives my career still, is to try to win these things.”
BRITISH OPEN ODDS
6-1 Tiger Woods
7-1 Ernie Els
12-1 Phil Mickelson
16-1 Retief Goosen, Vijay Singh
20-1 Sergio Garcia
28-1 Padraig Harrington
33-1 Davis Love III
40-1 Darren Clarke, Jim Furyk, Adam Scott
50-1 Stephen Ames, Shigeki Maruyama; Mike Weir
66-1 Robert Allenby, Stuart Appleby, Chad Campbell, Chris Di
Marco, Fredrik Jacobson, Kenny Perry, David Toms
80-1 Thomas Bjorn, Michael Campbell, Paul Casey, K.J. Choi,
Luke Donald, Miguel Angel Jimenez, Justin Leonard, Colin
Montgomerie, Lee Westwood.
150-1 Ben Curtis
250-1 David Duval
Source: William Hill