Els in last ditch effort to qualify

Home
  • August 17, 2011

Ernie Els has entered this week’s Wyndham Championship in an attempt to qualify for the FedEx Cup playoffs.

Ernie Els has entered this week’s Wyndham Championship in an attempt to qualify for the PGA Tour’s lucrative FedEx Cup playoffs.

The South African currently lies in 126th place on the list of qualifiers for the Tour’s end of season finale, starting with the Barclays Classic at the end of August, and only the top 125 make it through.

While not initially part of his schedule, the need to qualify, coupled with Els missing the cut at the US PGA Championship last week, has prompted the three-time major champ to play the Wyndham.

“This really is last-chance saloon,” he wrote on his official website.

“The simple fact is if I play well, I’m in (the playoffs) and if I play poorly, I’m more than likely not. This is traditionally a pretty low-scoring week and I need to find a way to get something going.

“The PGA Championship was going to be my last FedEx Cup qualifying event, but I really don’t want to miss out on those big events and a chance to tee it up in the Tour Championship.”

It’s been a frustrating year for Els, who is still playing well off the tee and on the fairways. His putting, however, has consistently let him down, and he has yet to record a single top-10 finish on the PGA Tour this year. He’s also missed five cuts in his last eight events.

“I’ve had a pretty tough year,” he said. “I’m putting a lot of work into my game. I need to basically find a way of letting it happen, and I’m waiting for that week for it to happen.”

Els is not a regular at the Wyndham Championship – this will be only his second appearance at the tournament.

“I had a top-10 finish in 1997, but that was on a different golf course,” he said. “Another top-10 here would be a pretty good result for me, especially given the circumstances.”

Home

Latest