Els a close second on PGA Tour
Brad Morgan
17 April 2007
Ernie Els, on Monday, came within a whisker of securing his first win on the US PGA Tour since 2004, but narrowly missed out, finishing one shot behind winner Boo Weekley in the Verizon Heritage, played at Harbour Town Golf Links in Hilton Head, South Carolina.
In eight previous outings at the tournament, Els had secured six top-10 finishes. On two of those occasions, he would feel he probably should have gone on to win.
This time around, he set himself up beautifully with consecutive rounds of 65 that took him to the top of the leaderboard with a three-shot lead over the chasing pack at the halfway mark. A level-par 71 in the third round left Els trailing leader Jerry Kelly by one shot, on 12-under-par 201.
Up-and-down
An up-and-down final round that included five birdies and four bogeys was almost enough for Els, but it was the pick up a shot, drop a shot nature of his round that ultimately prevented the
big South African breaking his drought on the PGA Tour.
The pattern revealed itself on the closing holes as Els toyed with victory.
Weekley had dropped a shot on the sixteenth and almost another one on the seventeenth where he needed a brilliant 40-foot chip to save par. Els, given a chance to draw level, he squandered it at the seventeenth.
He drove into the hazard behind the green, resulting in a bogey. Weekley, meanwhile, looked as if he had opened the door for the Big Easy when he chipped across the eighteenth green. But it was not to be. Again, Weekley produced a superb chip, this time from 36 feet, to save par.
Still, it was very close in the end as Els drove his second shot to the eighteenth - needing to hole it to tie - just two feet from the hole.
'What can you say?'
Writing on his website, Els said: "Obviously I'm disappointed the way the tournament finished at Harbour Town on Monday. But when the guy you're
challenging for the win chips-in on both of the last two greens to beat you by a shot, what can you say?"
Weekley's closing round of 68 left him on 14-under-par 270 for the tournament, with Els, after a closing 70, one back on 271.
Stephen Leaney took third place on 272, followed by Vaughan Taylor and Kevin Na on 274, and US Masters champion Zach Johnson on 275.
It wasn't a win for Els, but it was a fantastic turnaround after he missed the cut at the US Masters.
'A step in the right direction'
"I've got to keep knocking on the door," he told reporters afterwards. "I didn't win, that's disappointing, but this is a step in the right direction."
Summing it up on his website, Els wrote: "I'm not going to let the fact that I didn't win get me down. It's not the end of the world. If I can carry on playing like I did at Hilton Head, trust me I'll win again soon."
He'll have a chance to get back to winning ways this coming
weekend at the BMW Asian Open being played at the Tomson Pudongh Golf Club in Shanghai.
BMW Asian Open field
A quality field awaits him, including fellow South Africans Craig Kamps, Hendrik Buhrmann and Retief Goosen, who recently finished runner-up at the US Masters.
It signals a return for Els to a tournament that holds pleasant memories for him. He last played it in 2005 when he finished 26-under-par to win by a remarkable 13 shots. His effort included a scintillating 62 in the second round.
Els likely won't have to be that good to win the event again; something close to it, however, he would surely welcome with open arms.
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