The Big Easy - Laid-back Ernie Els on winning, losing and why golf should be more like rugby - Els comments on his disappointing game, but anticipates a comeback - Interview

Golf Digest, Feb, 2000

Which made you look at the whole thing more through their eyes?

Exactly. I remember when they came to the Masters for the first time. I could see it in their faces. They were so excited and so in awe. And I could see it again. So I was trying to play well for myself, but also for them.

I had a bad finish to my first round and didn't sleep well that night. Normally I can sleep anywhere. But not that night. I was churning inside. The next morning I told myself I was really going to play that day.

I'm never usually that focused. Normally I'm like, "Whatever happens, happens." That day was different. I shot 67 and all of a sudden I was in contention.

In the third round I played with Tom Lehman. It was back to the same old thing. I didn't have the confidence. The rain delay saved me. When we came back the next morning, I finished great. Birdied the last three holes.

What about the last round?

Playing with Colin helped. Two foreigners together.

But better for you surely. You owned him at that point.

Yeah. At that point, yes. My record then was a little better than Colin's. I beat him in the World Match Play, the other U.S. Open and some other tournaments.

It was always nice playing with him. It still is. He's a great competitor, and we always seem to feed off each other.

Yet you're so different. Does he make you laugh sometimes?

Of course-a lot of times. I played with him at the German Masters in 1994. In those days he was really Mr. Grumpy. It seemed like he was a full-time marshal.

"Stand still," he would say. I'd be like, "Oh, no."

He was great, and we'd laugh. We still do. He's like a [John] McEnroe. When he gets all stressed, he comes up with better shots.

That wasn't true at Congressional.

Not in his second round. I remember when he walked over to [his wife] Eimear, he was very upset. I know Colin for what he is, but the spectators, when they see that-especially in America-they start really firing at you. They jump at you and go at you, especially after a couple of beers.

In the last round, we both scored very well. Going into the back nine he was, I think, one ahead. Then I chipped in and he got it up and down from an impossible lie in a bunker. I knew then he wasn't going to go away. That's how it went the whole back nine. That's some of the best golf I've ever played.

Can you appreciate how good it is while it's happening?

Not really. I was right on top of my concentration. I was really comfortable, and so was he. We both felt like we were going to win. And I'm sure Tom Leh-man and Jeff Maggert felt the same way.

In the end, I think the game of golf made me champion. My natural shot is a draw; Colin's is a fade. If the hole had been cut on the right side of the 17th, it would have suited him more than me. My shape on 17 was perfect. The fairway slopes right to left, and I like to hit it the same way.

You make it sound easy. But what about the water on the left?

Sure. Tom Lehman hits the ball the same way as I do. Yet he just got a little ahead of it and he was gone in the water.