The post The clubs used by two-time Open Champion Ernie Els for the 150th Open Championship appeared first on Golf.

The post The clubs used by two-time Open Champion Ernie Els for the 150th Open Championship appeared first on Golf.

Ernie Els is a two-time winner of the Open Championship, with his first coming in 2002 at Muirfield, and the second won at Royal Lytham & St Annes a decade later. I’m not going to promise that as another decade comes to a close the Big Easy is a likely pick to win, but it’s always fun to look inside the golf bag of one of the game’s greatest ambassadors — especially ahead of the Open Championship.

Driver: XXIO 10 Driver, with Project X RDX Smoke Black

3-Wood: XXIO 10, with Project X EvenFlow Blue

Utility Irons: Srixon ZU85 2, 3, 4 with KBS Tour steel shafts

Irons: Srixon ZX7 (5-P) with KBS Tour Steel shafts

Wedges: Cleveland RTX ZipCore 52° MID bounce, 56° MID bounce, 60° MID bounce with KBS Wedge Shafts 

Putter: Odyssey O-Works Black #1 Wide

Ball: Srixon ZStar XV Yellow

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The post ‘It feels like silly season golf’: Ernie Els’ problem with LIV Golf appeared first on Golf.

The post ‘It feels like silly season golf’: Ernie Els’ problem with LIV Golf appeared first on Golf.

Ernie Els understands the temptation of LIV Golf, especially for players of a certain age.

Heck, he was there himself just a few years ago.

“From 45 to 50, you’re nowhere,” Els, who is now 52, said the other day as he looked out on to the range at Liberty National Golf Club, in New Jersey. “You’re not the player you used to be. You can’t compete. It’s an awkward time.”

Els, who is a sporting legend in his homeland of South Africa thanks to his 70-plus wins worldwide, including four major-championship titles, was pondering the decision that some of his fellow professionals have made to, in effect, cut ties with the PGA and DP World tours in return for huge paydays from LIV Golf.

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Some of those notable LIV commits — Bryson DeChambeau, 28; Talor Gooch, 30; Abraham Ancer, 31 — are still in their primes. But considerably more — Phil Mickelson, 52; Lee Westwood, 49; Pat Perez, 46; Ian Poulter, 46; Graeme McDowell, 42; Sergio Garcia, 42 — are at stages in their careers where competing for paychecks against, in many cases, players half their age has become a daunting proposition.

So, when an upstart league comes along with nine-figure signing bonuses and no-cut events with $25 million purses, the pull is strong, no matter the source of the payouts, which, in this case, happens to be a government with an abysmal human-rights record. (Even avowed PGA Tour lifer Rory McIlroy acknowledged the lure earlier this week, saying, “I understand why guys went, especially the guys that are sort of in the latter stages of their career and if I was in their position, I’d serious have to think about doing the same thing.”)  

Among the other LIV signees are three of Els’ countrymen: Branden Grace, 34; Louis Oosthuizen, 39; and Charl Schwartzel, 37, who won the debut LIV event, in London, last month. Els said none of those players consulted with him before they contracted with LIV — “they are too shy to speak to me,” he said — but he has thought about what he would have told them.  

“I would have said, ‘You’ve got to think about it,” Els said. “I understand that the guys go because of the money — it’s just a ridiculous amount — and you get to a certain point in your career, you have to consider it. But—”

And this is a big but for Els.

“—it’s not golf as we know it anymore. It’s a very different product.”

Much of LIV, of course, looks exactly like golf as we know it. Clubs and balls. Birdies and bogeys. Fairways and flagsticks. But that’s not what Els was driving at. It’s LIV’s format that he can’t get past: the absence of the pure meritocracy — beat half the field or go home with nothing — that is an inherent and integral part of virtually every other major tour.      

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“If it was a 72-hole system, then you’d have to look at it,” Els said. “But it’s 54 holes, no cut, shotgun start. It feels like it’s silly season golf.” Els said he would be fine with the major tours coming together during the off-season to play an unconventional style of golf like LIV has conceived, but he can’t get his head around LIV’s everybody-gets-a-trophy format as a credible way to test and identify the best golfers in the world.

“Go play this kind of format for three or four months and have your fun,” he said. “But then go play real golf after that. That’s how I feel it probably should have gone down but it didn’t.”

Despite his Hall of Fame resume, Els knows what it feels like to go years without winning, to struggle to make cuts. He won his 19th PGA Tour title — the 2012 Open Championship — when he was 42. A 20th victory never came. In 2017, still three years shy of 50, Els made $155,926 on the PGA Tour; a year later, he banked only $102,868.  

If a rival tour was signing players then, would Els have jumped ship for guaranteed money?

“I would have been against it,” he said. “You’d have to look at it, yes, but I’ve got really great sponsors. I’ve got really great people supporting me. We have our autism endeavor. Lots of things are in play for me. In my case, it’s not just take the money and see ya later. There [would be] a lot of consequences.”

That, and a nagging sensation in his gut.

“It just doesn’t leave a good feeling, does it?” Els said of LIV’s advances. ”It just doesn’t feel right.”

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The post ‘Just a freakin’ machine’: How Tiger Woods changed golf’s finances, according to Ernie Els appeared first on Golf.

The post ‘Just a freakin’ machine’: How Tiger Woods changed golf’s finances, according to Ernie Els appeared first on Golf.

If anyone understands the full depth of Tiger Woods’ greatness, it’s Ernie Els.

Els, the 52-year-old South African, has been one of golf’s great stars for the better part of Woods’ career. His 19 PGA Tour wins and four major championships have made him one of the preeminent players of his era — and one of Woods’ great sparring partners.

Of course, those numbers are dwarfed by Tiger’s 82 professional wins and 15 major championships, and perhaps even diminished because of Woods’ 82 wins and 15 majors. But as the Big Easy approaches his post-playing career, he holds no resentment towards Tiger’s dominance, even if it came at Els’ own expense.

“What an experience, right?” Els told hosts Colt Knost and Drew Stoltz on this week’s episode of GOLF’s Subpar. “Colt, you’ve played in the Tiger era. The thing that gets me the most, what separated Tiger from us, the one real factor, was his intensity on the first tee.”

As Els sees it, there were always players who approached Tiger’s level of skill, but the real differentiator — the thing that made Tiger Tiger — was his competitive spirit.

And as for proof? Els says to look no further than the first five holes of any round of golf.

“You know, you just want to get in the round, test out the waters of competition. A lot of us are like that, but Tiger? He was different,” Els said. “On the first tee, he was ready to go. he was ready to absolutely strangle the golf course and then get to the field eventually and really take down the tournament.”

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That perspective changed the way Tiger approached competition, and it also changed the way his opponents viewed themselves.

“He wasn’t there to mess around. He didn’t play too many events, but when he played, he was ready to go,,” Els said. “His eyes on the practice putting green, he was absolutely focused on his job, and that is one thing that separated him then and still separates him today. You can just feel his aura to compete.”

After a quarter-century in golf, Els considers himself fortunate to have witnessed Tiger’s greatness from spitting distance. And if that greatness came at Els’ expense in terms of victories, it certainly didn’t affect him financially.

“If Tiger wasn’t around, I definitely would have won more golf tournaments, but I wouldn’t have made as much money,” Els says. “When I got on Tour, Corey Pavin was the first guy to win over a million dollars in a season, and now, look where it’s gone. When Tiger came in in ’97, we were still down there at the 2 million mark in purse, and bang, it just exploded. The world came in, and the PGA Tour just went from strength to strength. And so yeah, he put a lot of money into people’s pockets.”

That is a big chunk of what makes it easy for Ernie Els to say he’s grateful for Tiger Woods. His life and his career are better off for Tiger existing, even if ever-so-often, his psyche suffered.

“His pursuit of winning, his pursuit of excellence throughout the event,” Els said. “There were tournaments in which we played the first two rounds together, and then we played the last two rounds together. To go right into the 72nd hole competing against him, it takes a lot out of you…

This guy was just a freakin’ machine,” Els continued. “He still is. When he plays, he’s there to win.”

And that, Els says, is the one universal truth of Tiger Woods’ greatness.

“With injuries, he’s half the man he was. But he’s out there, and he’s going to find a way to try to beat you on the course,” Els said. “What a guy, and what a time to try to beat him.”

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The post This is the accomplishment Ernie Els says he’s most proud of appeared first on Golf.

The post This is the accomplishment Ernie Els says he’s most proud of appeared first on Golf.

Ernie Els is one of the game’s living legends: A Hall of Famer, Presidents Cup captain, winner of four major championships and owner of a total victory tally that includes 28 European Tour events and 19 PGA Tour tournaments. His career has been, in a word, remarkable — especially when you consider that he achieved most of it during Tiger Woods’ heydey.

But despite the ample fodder from which he has to choose, there’s one achievement that stands out from the rest in Els’ mind. And on this week’s episode of Subpar, he explained what it is to hosts Colt Knost and Drew Stoltz.

“Just to have the career I’ve had, to be honest. To have a long career, you’ve gotta do a lot of things right, a lot of things have to go your way,” Els said. “Injuries, touch wood, haven’t been too bad for me. Nothing catastrophic. And then just to have the love of the game for this long time. There’s a lot of other things we can do in life. But to keep the love of the game to where I want to still compete and so forth. I’m 52, 53 this year in October.

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“So the most proud thing is to hang around and be [relevant],” Els continued. “And the PGA Tour’s looked after us very well, with the Champions Tour now. We’re knocking on Jay’s door to get some more money for this thing. But there’s a lot of other things happening in the world and we’re thankful to play still.”

Els’ long career has given him an appreciative perspective of what the game has given him. His daughter Samantha recently graduated from Stanford — something he isn’t sure would have been possible if it wasn’t for golf.

“I probably would have been working for my dad in South Africa,” Els mused. “He’s got a trucking company. I don’t know if that would have been all that much fun for me. But who knows what I would have done if it wasn’t for this game?

“It’s been a pretty good ride.”

Els spends the majority of his time on the PGA Tour Champions these days, where this season, he’s posted 10 top-25 finishes in 11 events. For more from Els, including what it was like battling Woods, and Woods’ impact on purse sizes, check out the full interview below.

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The post GOLF’s Subpar: Ernie Els talks what made Tiger Woods so different appeared first on Golf.

The post GOLF’s Subpar: Ernie Els talks what made Tiger Woods so different appeared first on Golf.

On this week’s Subpar Colt Knost and Drew Stoltz are joined by 4-time Major winner Ernie Els who breaks down what made Tiger Woods so different.

—

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The post Inside the Icons Series: New golf event to pit sports stars in match-play battle appeared first on Golf.

The post Inside the Icons Series: New golf event to pit sports stars in match-play battle appeared first on Golf.

Looking for something new in the world of golf? Who isn’t these days?

Fred Couples, Ernie Els and a host of world-class athletes from sports other than golf are looking to deliver just that next week with the debut event of the Icons Series, June 30-July 1, at Liberty National GC, just across the Hudson River from downtown Manhattan.  

The Icons Series is a Presidents Cup-style event, pitting a mix of 12 active and former brand-name athletes from the U.S. against their international counterparts in a six-session clash. Couples and Els will captain each squad. 

Who’s in the field?

Team USA: Michael Phelps (former Olympic swimmer), Michael Strahan (former NFL defensive end), Ben Roethlisberger (NFL quarterback), J.R. Smith (former NBA guard), John Smoltz (former MLB pitcher), Andrew Whitworth (former NFL tackle), Ivan Rodriguez (former MLB catcher), Reggie Bush (former NFL running back), Robbie Gould (NFL kicker), Marshall Faulk (former NFL running back), Golden Tate (former NFL receiver turned minor-league baseball player)

Team Rest of the World: Harry Kane (Premier League soccer player), Canelo Alvarez (Mexican boxer), Ash Barty (Australian tennis player), Pep Guardiola (Premier League manager), Ab De Villiers (South African cricketer), Brian Lara (former Trinidadian cricketer), Ricky Ponting (former Australian cricketer), James Milner (Premier League soccer player), George Gregan (Australian rugby player), Yuvraj Singh (former Indian cricketer)

Shrewd observers will note just 11 players named on the U.S. team and 10 on the International side. The remaining players will be added to each team in the coming days.

“These guys are all really good golfers,” Els told Colt Knost and Drew Stoltz this week, in an interview that will appear on next week’s episode of Subpar. “Some of these guys are scratch golfers. We’ll see how serious they take it. Being so competitive in their sports field, I think the competitiveness is going to come through as the tournament goes on. I don’t think anyone wants to lose in this thing.”

Where will it take place? 

Liberty National. The 2017 Presidents Cup host site, which has also been the venue for FedEx Cup playoff events, is back hosting a team competition. Will this one be as big of a blowout as the U.S.-dominated ’17 Cup was? Unlikely! But we’ll have to see how Freddie’s team handles the pressure. The event will take place June 30 and July 1, with a practice day on June 29.

What’s the format? 

The six-session series will take place over two days, with three 10-hole match play sessions per day and the event culminating in head-to-head singles clashes. You read that correctly: 10-hole match-play sessions. That means the squads won’t be competing on the Liberty National layout as we know it. Check out the adjusted course map below:

Day 1 will begin and end with five matches of fourballs, where the best score from each tandem of players is their team score. Sandwiched in between the fourball sessions will be a greensomes session, which is similar to foursomes. The difference with greensomes is that each player hits a tee shot, and the two-player teams select their favorite tee ball and play alternate-shot from there in. Day 2 will follow the same format with the exception of the third session, which will feature 12 decisive singles matches.

How can I watch it?

Viewers at home can tune in to the action on the second day of the matches — that’s Friday, July 1 — when the broadcast will stream on NBC’s Peacock app from 2-6:30 p.m. ET. 

SIGN UP FOR PEACOCK PREMIUM TO WATCH EXCLUSIVE COVERAGE OF THE ICONS SERIES

May I attend?

You may indeed. New York City-area fans who would like to see the action in person can do so with grounds tickets that are $25 per day or $40 for a two-day pass. Spectators 17 and under will be allowed in for free with a paying ticket-holder.

Why should I watch?

Umm, did you see the lineups? There are athletes representing nearly every major sport: NFL, MLB, NBA, tennis, boxing, Premier League soccer, even cricket! Also, the match-play format changes things a bit. We’re used to sporting figures and celebs competing in pro-ams under stroke play. Now, we’ll see them competing as teammates in a match-play format, in front of fans and cameras on a playing field that is much different from the ones they’ve dominated for years. The nerves alone should be enough of reason to tune in.

Is this the start of something bigger?

That’s the plan. The Icons Series is aiming to host future events in Australia, Asia, Europe and the Middle East. No dates have been announced for those sites, but they’re coming.

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The post How to watch the Icons Series: Streaming schedule for athlete-driven event at Liberty National appeared first on Golf.

The Icons Series, a Presidents Cup-style event pitting 12 brand-name athletes from the U.S. vs. their counterparts from the rest of the world, will make its debut on June 30-July 1 at Liberty National Golf Club, in Jersey City, N.J.

Here’s everything you need to know about how to watch the athletes testing their golf games in a competitive environment.

How to watch the Icons Series

The Icons Series brings together the best components from many formats of golf entertainment at Liberty National, a four-time PGA Tour and 2017 Presidents Cup venue. Captaining the teams are Fred Couples (U.S.) and Ernie Els (International). The format will be ​​fourball and greensome (select drive alternate-shot), with Day 2 culminating in head-to-head singles matches. This is the first of several planned Icons events, with intentions for others in Australia, Asia, Europe and the Middle East.

This week’s event at Liberty National is open to the public with grounds tickets that are $25 per day or $40 for a two-day pass. Spectators 17 and under will be allowed in for free with a paying ticket-holder.

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Team USA

With such a diverse field of athletes, you can’t help but wonder which sports fundamentals will translate into strong golf games. Other than 23-time gold medalist Michael Phelps, who plays at a 10 handicap, the rest of the U.S. team are single-digits, highlighted by Hall of Fame Braves pitcher John Smoltz who is a +1.5. J.R. Smith, the former NBA player, just wrapped up his first year as a collegiate golfer at North Carolina A&T. 

Full U.S. team: Michael Phelps (former Olympic swimmer), Michael Strahan (former NFL defensive end), Ben Roethlisberger (NFL quarterback), J.R. Smith (former NBA guard), John Smoltz (former MLB pitcher), Andrew Whitworth (former NFL tackle), Ivan Rodriguez (former MLB catcher), Reggie Bush (former NFL running back), Robbie Gould (NFL kicker), Marshall Faulk (former NFL running back), Golden Tate (former NFL receiver turned minor-league baseball player), Michael Vick (former NFL quarterback)

Team ROTW

Els’ team is at a slight disadvantage with two double-digit team members and none better than scratch. Star Tottenham striker Harry Kane will be a player to watch as the lone scratch golfer. Australian cricket star Ricky Ponting should also keep things competitive with his 2 handicap. With the world’s best athletes teeing it up as their second or third sport, it will be interesting to see which players stand up to the pressure. 

Full ROTW team: Harry Kane (Premier League soccer player), Canelo Alvarez (Mexican boxer), Ash Barty (Australian tennis player), Pep Guardiola (Premier League manager), Ab De Villiers (South African cricketer), Brian Lara (former Trinidadian cricketer), Ricky Ponting (former Australian cricketer), James Milner (Premier League soccer player), George Gregan (Australian rugby player), Yuvraj Singh (former Indian cricketer).

*The two final ROTW players will be named this week.

Icons Series basics

What: Icons Series

Where: Liberty National Golf Club, Jersey City, N.J.

When: Thursday-Friday, June 30-July 1

How to watch the Icons Series

Viewers can watch the action on the second day of the matches — that’s Friday, July 1 — when the broadcast will stream on NBC’s Peacock app from 2-6:30 p.m. ET. 

SIGN UP FOR PEACOCK PREMIUM TO WATCH EXCLUSIVE COVERAGE OF THE ICONS SERIES

Icons Series tee times: Round 1 (ET) & Round 2 (ET)

We will update team pairings and starting times when they become available later this week.

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The post When can — and can’t — you replace damaged gear under the rules? 2 pros found out appeared first on Golf.

The post When can — and can’t — you replace damaged gear under the rules? 2 pros found out appeared first on Golf.

Two major winners. Two cracks. Two cracks at crack relief. 

But only Ernie Els was able to crack a smile. And Padraig Harrington did not. 

At tournaments some 9,000 miles apart, over the course of about 12 hours, rules that govern cracks in gear were in play both late Friday and early Saturday ET, and they defined what is — and isn’t — allowed for damages. Crack one came during the second round of the Mitsubishi Electric Championship, the season opener on the Champions Tour, when Els hit his tee shot right on the 16th at Hualalai Golf Course, the ball banged off lava, and it settled just in play. An official was called. 

And Els was allowed to change out his golf ball. In play was Rule 4.2c, which states: “You may only substitute another ball (by replacing it on the original spot) if it can be clearly seen that your original ball is cut or cracked and this damage happened during the hole you are playing — but not if it is only scratched or scraped or its paint is only damaged or discoloured.”     

“If there’s a hole in it, or a cut in it, then it’s damaged,” official Joe Terry was overheard saying on the Golf Channel broadcast. “And this one has been pierced. It’s quite evident that you can see. You may take it out of play.”

Crack two came during the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, the season opener on the DP World Tour (the formerly named European Tour). According to a tweet from Harington, he had played the first 10 holes of his third round at Yas Links, then, on the par-5 11th, saw that his driver was cracked. A ruling was called for. 

And Harrington had to keep playing with the club. In play was Model Local Rule G-9, which states: “If a player’s club is “broken or significantly damaged” during the round by the player or caddie, except in cases of abuse, the player may replace the club with any club under Rule 4.1b(4). … A club is “broken or significantly damaged” when: the shaft breaks into pieces, splinters or is bent (but not when the shaft is only dented); the club face impact area is visibly deformed (but not when the club face is only scratched); the clubhead is visibly and significantly deformed; the clubhead is detached or loose from the shaft; or the grip is loose.

“Exception: A club face or clubhead is not “broken or significantly damaged” solely because it is cracked.”

And Harrington played on. Six of his remaining eight holes were non-par-3s, and he hit five fairways, missing only the 11th, where he first noticed the crack. 

“Another strange ruling today,” Harrington tweeted. “I realized the face of my driver was cracked on the 11th tee. I was not  allowed change it as it wasn’t cracked enough to be out of shape. Drove it well enough for  last 8 holes. I’ve got a replacement head ready to go. @DPWorldTour #ADGolfChamps”

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The post How a nation with only 150,000 golfers has 11 players in the PGA Championship field appeared first on Golf.

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KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C. — The crack reporters at the Baseball Almanac will tell you that 17,150 players from the United States have played Major League Baseball, with California producing 2,347 of them. With those fun facts in mind:

Doug Ferguson, crack golf writer at the Associated Press, will tell you that of the 156 golfers in the original field at this 103rd PGA Championship, 11 are from South Africa, including Branden Grace, flying way north on your second-round leaderboard. 

If you’re following the scores on the PGA of America’s joy-to-the-world website, each golfer’s home country is indicated by his home flag beside his name. The modern (since 1994) South African flag depicts a green Y on its side with a red polygon above it and a blue one underneath it, with blue, white and gold border lines accenting the whole thing. It’s interesting.

Here’s another interesting thing. Of those 11 golfers from South Africa? Nine of them are of Afrikaners, or went to an Afrikaans school, or speak the Dutch-influenced language. They are Grace, Dean Burmester, Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Louis Oosthuizen, Erik van Rooyen, Garrick Higgo, Daniel van Tonder, Charl Schwartzel and George Coetzee.

If, over the years, you could give some judicious mulligans to Retief Goosen, Trevor Immelman and especially Ernie Els, they’d add to the Afrikaner count in the field, too, playing as past champions. Especially Ernie. He had six top-10 finishes in the PGA Championship.

Nick Price, by the way, a two-time winner of the PGA Championship, was born in South Africa, though his family moved to Zimbabwe when he was eight. Price, asked on Friday to explain the large number of world-class South African golfers, said, “They have great weather there, great courses, some wonderful academies and learning facilities, not only for golf but for all sports. There’s a huge depth of talent in South Africa.” It is a country with about 58 million people. The U.S. population is 331 million.

Gary Player, famously South African, also won the PGA Championship twice.

This record number of South Africans in a major (11), this field-within-the-field, is way beyond a statistical anomaly: even today, South Africa has only about 150,000 golfers. Can you imagine if there were a half-dozen golfers from New Mexico in the field this week? Notah Begay (native son) would be in high demand for commentary! Instead, we have Mr. Els.

“I would have loved to be in the field this week, I love playing by the ocean,” Els said in a phone interview on Friday morning from his home — near the ocean — in South Florida. “But it’s absolutely incredible to see all these South African golfers in one major, and so many of them who speak Afrikaans. We’ve got good young golfers coming up in droves in South Africa.”

Afrikaans is Els’ native language. There’s a Germanic quality to his English. Incredible comes out EEENN-KRED-a-bill (sort of), each syllable distinct and heavy.

Els is an active supporter of junior golf programs in South Africa, as his friend Johann Rupert, a successful Afrikaans businessman. Player has also been a sustained force for junior golf in South Africa.

Instruction

“Every one of these players has an incredible story,” Els said of the players in the field this week. He noted that South African golfers of English descent sometimes come out of a more affluent background. (Player, most decidedly, did not.) But the Afrikaans golfers often descend from farming families and other working families. Els went through the whole roster. “This Daniel van Tonder, have you seen him? His father was a boxer, and he’s as big as a house.

“This Garrick Higgo — he’s a great kid,” Els said, continuing. “Very devout Christian. Went to UNLV, at least for a while. He calls me and says, ‘Uncle Ernie, this Las Vegas, it’s not for me.’ He stayed with our family in Florida for a while. I said, ‘If you want to turn pro, you should turn pro.’ He turned pro, and it’s incredible, what he’s done.” Higgo, who turned 22 this month, has won three times on the European Tour. This PGA Championship is his first major.

Branden Grace is playing in his 34th major this week. He’s 33. Do you know how good you have to be to have played in that many majors at that age? At the Open at Birkdale in 2017, when Jordan Spieth won, Grace shot a third-round 62, the lowest score ever recorded in a major.

“A lot of us Afrikaners, we love being outdoors, so we’re drawn to golf,” Els said. “We’re like the Texans that way. A lot of us didn’t speak English that well at first, but we’re not big talkers, so golf suited us that way, too, when we played in junior tournaments.

Travel

“And we’re a very competitive tribe. We’re going to give it everything we have. I have a friend who is a retired Navy Seal. He says, ‘You guys have the same kind of fighting spirit that the Navy Seals have. You’re going to give it your all on the field, and fight like hell, and then when you’re done, you’ll come off the field as friends.”

Els knew the life story of every South African player in the field. Needless to say, the players know each other as well. That’s one of the reasons Els uses the word tribe. Get used to the newish South African flag, in all its boldness, at golf tournaments for a long time to come. As a tribe, these golfers are going to be clogging up leaderboards for a long time to come. That’s what Ernie says, and he would likely know. For further proof, check out the scores this week from Kiawah.

Michael Bamberger welcomes your comments at Michael.Bamberger@Golf.com

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The post How this Masters champion’s simple tip instantly improved Ernie Els’ putting stroke appeared first on Golf.

The post How this Masters champion’s simple tip instantly improved Ernie Els’ putting stroke appeared first on Golf.

Just like a great golf swing, a solid putting stroke has to be on a specific plane to perform to its highest potential. There are many misconceptions about the shape of the stroke, but most of the best putters in the world agree that the putter should work on more of an arc than a straight-back-and-through stroke.

However, when stroking the ball on an arc, it can be easy to get out of sync. Sucking the putter too far inside is an easy mistake to make and can throw your entire sequence out of sorts. That’s exactly what happened recently to Hall of Famer Ernie Els. He was taking the putter too far inside which made him “loop” the club as he progressed back to impact. The result was an inconsistent stroke that couldn’t be relied upon.

Luckily for Els, Mark O’Meara was there to save the day. In a recent tweet from Golf Channel’s GolfPass, O’Meara explained the tip he gave Els to fix his stroke and allow him to win the SAS Championship.

“What I noticed about his stroke is it was way too much to the inside,” O’Meara said. “His backstroke was going back inside, and then he wasn’t quite hitting the putts that solid.”

O’Meara’s tip was simple: take the putter straighter on the way back. Els took the advice and instantly started hitting better putts.

“The key to putting is making sure your hands aren’t behind the ball,” O’Meara said. “If you take the putter back way too much to the inside, then you kind of have to loop it to get it back on track … I asked Ernie to just feel like he was taking it a little straighter back. As soon as he did that, he started rolling it better and making better putts.”

Sometimes all it takes is another pair of eyes to diagnose the shortcomings in your game, so don’t be afraid to ask for help if you find yourself struggling.

The post How this Masters champion’s simple tip instantly improved Ernie Els’ putting stroke appeared first on Golf.