TROON, Scotland – No one had the kind of roller-coaster day that Ernie Els endured in yesterday’s first round of the British Open.
Els finished with a 2-under-par 69, but it could have been so much better.
The round was highlighted by his hole-in-one on the famous postage-stamp eighth hole, when Els jarred a pitching wedge from 123 yards out.
After Els really had it going at 4-under entering the 17th hole, leading the tournament at the time. But his round took a horrible turn when he pulled a 5-iron into a steep greenside bunker on 17 and took two hacks to get out before settling for double bogey.
“From such a highlight on eight to such a low on 17 is amazing,” Els said. “I had a pretty nice round going there. It was unfortunate what I did on 17. I pulled a 5-iron and had a little bit of a downhill lie in the bunker, but it wasn’t the most difficult shot I’ve ever had in m life. I just messed it up. I thinned it into the bank and from nowhere, really, I made double bogey.
“I’ve had tougher shots than that in my life and I just messed it up.”
When asked about the ace, Els’ face brightened.
“That was beautiful,” he said. “There was a little breeze in the face and I was actually thinking 9-iron and [caddie] Rickey [Roberts] talked me into wedge. I hit it really solid and it bounced nice and hard and had some check on it. It was definitely enough club.”
Els said it was his seventh ace in tournament competition, and his second in a major. He holed out a 6-iron on No. 10 at Winged Foot in the 1997 PGA Championship.
The last player to record a hole-in-one on the 8th in Open competition was Swede Denis Edlund in the second round of the 1997 Open.
Els became the 6-1 favorite to win this Open after a bettor placed a wager of more than 62,000 pounds ($114,700) on him at 8-1, thus lowering his odds to 6-1.
When asked if it was he who bet on himself, Els said, “I wouldn’t waste that much money.”
Els bells
Ernie Els, here playing out of a bunker on 16 yesterday, experienced both extremes during the first round of the British Open. He sunk a hole-in-one on the par-3 eighth, but double-bogeyed the par-3 17th on the way to a two-under round of 69, three strokes off the lead. Here’s a look at Els’ scorecard:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Total
Els 4 4 4 4 3 5 4 1 4 4 3 4 4 3 4 5 5 4 69
Par 4 4 4 5 3 5 4 3 4 4 4 4 4 3 4 5 3 4 71