Els keeping his hopes alive
The pressures of fighting to stay alive in the FedEx Cup seems to be doing Ernie Els’ game a world of good.
The pressures of fighting to stay alive in the FedEx Cup seems to be doing Ernie Els’ game a world of good.
Only just sneaking into the top 125 qualifiers who made it into the lucrative four-event play-off series, every day so far has a been a fight to survive one more round for the South African.
“It’s almost like a life-and-death situation. I know it’s not, but it is in golfing terms,” Els said.
“There’s pressure, and this is maybe something that I needed, probably what I needed to get my game back in shape. I feel like things are really starting to fall into place now.”
He found some long lost form last week in Boston to move into the top 100 and qualify for this week’s Deutsche Bank Championship, and now after two rounds in Boston he finds himself in the top 10, only three shots off the lead.
That’s good, because only the top 70 survive for the third event of the series, and Els would need to finish 17th or better to jump 29 spots.
His second-round 65 yesterday was his lowest round of PGA Golf since the season-opener in Hawaii back in January, when he shot a 64.
It’s his putter that has let him down all year so far, but he seems to be finally finding some form on the greens again.
He called the greens in Boston this week “probably the best we’ve putted on all year.”
The ultimate aim for Ernie is the Tour Championship, reserved for only the top 30 on the points list. He’s never missed the event in its short four-year history, and he wouldn’t like to start now.
“When you’ve made Atlanta, you’ve had a good year,” Els said, “so I’m trying to get to that week.”
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