What Mrs. Els said

[Tom_Doak]

Sorry to leave you with the cliffhanger ... I've been exploring Yellowstone National Park for the last day and a half.  And I can't believe no one else saw this.

The article explained that before the final round of the US Open, Retief Goosen had basically ignored Ernie on the practice tee and putting green, staying within himself like Hogan did.  

Mrs. Els said that Ernie was uncomfortable as a result ... I don't have the magazine in front of me, but something like that he needed to believe he was the best player in the group, but also that he could share a laugh with the guys, and if he didn't have both, he couldn't be comfortable.

Which cannot help him in the final pairings of any future major championships.

[Carlyle Rood]

Given Ernie's comments following the U.S. Open, it's difficult to imagine that he was unhappy playing with Goosen.  He seemed to take consolation in the fact that Goosen won.

C

[Bill Gayne]

I was talking to the one of our golf pros this weekend and we both thought that Goosen had a Faldo like disposition at times on the course. In that he is unflappable and he can be incredibly focused that he is almost cocoon like. He also  develops a distinctive look of determination.

The difference though between Faldo and Goosen is that Faldo was much more mechanical especially on the greens.

[Mike_Sweeney]

So Tom now that you are commenting/speculating on what tour players wives said about their husbands playing partners and childhood competitor, are we allowed to speculate/comment on arranged architectural partnerships between architects where one of the partners authored a book on golf course architecture that did not speak kind words about the other's courses who happens to be a Tour player ?

[Gary_Smith]

These are the words from the missus that are supposed to "haunt" Els for the rest of his career?  

Come on, Els is a lot stronger mentally than that, or at least I hope so.

[Mike Nuzzo]

It may get both Els and Goosen....

On the 1st tee at Troon, Floppy forced a goofy, uncharacteristic hello out of Goosen, and look what that did for them.

That unconscious is a powerful thing.

P.S.
Tom,
Were you scouting out the property?  
Cheers

[Dan Kelly]

P.S.
Tom,
Were you scouting out the property?  

Yellowstone G.C. could have some *incredible* water features.

P.S. Thanks for the answer, Tom Doak.

[Jason Mandel]

While at the US OPEN on Saturday with my brother and dad, my brother followed a lot of Els as he is his favorite player.  My brother happened to be walking and talking with one of Ernies friends from South Afica.  After about the 11th hole I think it was, he walked past the ropes by his friend, came over and whispered something to his friend that my brother could not hear or make out.  He asked Els friend what ernie had said to him, which ernie replied "these greens are getting ridiculous".  I think it was right there that Ernie lost the US OPEN

jason

[Bill_McBride]

Apparently Ernie beat Retief like a drum throughout their careers as juniors in South Africa all the way into maturity.  It is now poetic justice that Retief has 2/3 of the majors Ernie has won, even though Ernie seems on the surface to have more talent.  Turnabout is fair play in this case!  Retief definitely has that Faldo concentration.

[Larry_Keltto]

The story was in SI, the Golf Plus section, I believe.

The story also said that prior to the final round, Els was on the practice green with his sports psychologist at his elbow; I thought the writer was implying that a lack of self-confidence is Els' only weakness.

[Carlyle Rood]

The story was in SI, the Golf Plus section, I believe.

The story also said that prior to the final round, Els was on the practice green with his sports psychologist at his elbow; I thought the writer was implying that a lack of self-confidence is Els' only weakness.

I take everything Alan Shipnuck writes with a grain of salt.  If Els were as fragile as Shipnuck suggested, then he wouldn't have contended in the last Masters, U.S. Open, and British Open.

The primary reason Els missed the (first) putt on the 18th was because it was very difficult.  Shipnuck just doesn't get it.

[Paul_Turner]

I reckon Els is past his "lack of confidence" stage.  A while ago, for at least a couple of years, it was well known in professional betting circles that Els was a great bet to lose ground in the final round.  That's certainly has not been the case in the past 2 years.

[Carlyle Rood]

The really curious thing about Shipnuck's logic (and I use that term loosely with Shipnuck) is he suggests the putt on 18 in regulation was a choke-job on Ernie's part.  Choking?  Are you kidding me?  He only needed a two-putt to make the playoff.  What is there to choke?

If Ernie was genuinely choking, then perhaps he would have been overly-aggressive in trying to make the putt in order to avoid a playoff.  The fact that he stroked the putt to ensure a two-putt, with an option to go in, suggests that he was comfortable going to a playoff if necessary.  People with fragile nerves don't try to get in playoffs.  (See the Masters in 1975.  Nicklaus utilized the same strategy.  Confident players recognize they have an advantage.)

[Tom_Doak]

All I am saying is that if Todd Hamilton had read that article, he would have avoided chatting up Ernie throughout the final round ... and so will everyone else for a while, if they know it makes him uncomfortable.

[THuckaby2]

This is really depressing.

A guy THAT good, with THAT incredibly great track record, suffers from confidence issues.

How the hell can any of us hope to ever succeed at this game?

I am gonna crawl under a rock and never play again.  This has to be the most depressing thing I have ever read on here.

 

[THuckaby2]

redanman, somehow that realization is comforting.  I should have remembered your mantra.

TH

[Lance Rieber]

Tom, have you decided which course or courses you are going to play? Hope the trip is fun and drive carefully.

[Rick Shefchik]

Is anybody else getting the feeling that driving problems have become the putting problems of the 21st century? So far, Ernie continues to bomb the ball off the tee with the best of them, but when you look at the problems that Tiger and Duval have had in the last couple of years -- and Seve and IBF before them -- I'd be looking at Els' tee shots as a first indicator of confidence problems.

Pros these days seem to keep coming up with ways to avoid or overcome the yips, but they don't seem to be dealing as well with the pressure to hit the tee ball long and straight -- and the incredibly small margin of error that current swing speeds create.