The remarkable arrival of Tiger Woods on to the professional golf scene in 1997 both elevated and threw Ernie Els off his game.
Els was speaking to the media ahead of his 100th Major start at the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow, starting today.
‘I won a couple early on, so I was kind of ‘- I was ready to win quite a few, if you know what I mean,’ said Els, who finished second to Woods twice in 2000 – the US Open and The Open.
‘And then when Tiger came in ’97, and him winning the Masters in the way he did, you know, that kind of threw me off a little bit. I thought I was really one of the top players, which I was, but that was a pretty special display of golf.
‘I had quite a few run-ins with him in Majors. It wasn’t really very close, but I finished second to him many times. Personally, I could have obviously won a couple more. He was so special, he’s so special, and he absolutely changed the game. He got us to really elevate our games, brought so much more attention to the sport, and obviously a lot more dollars to play for. So we’ve got to thank him.
‘But, you know, I could have had a couple more, definitely, without him around,’ Els revealed.
Photo: Michael Dwyer/AP
