Els chips away at Tiger’s aura with major declaration
Els chipped away, to some extent anyway, at Tiger's aura of invincibility at the recent Open Championship at Muirfield although he was less than assured coming down the stretch on the final evening, even though Woods was well out of contention. Nor do you get the feeling that Els is entirely convinced that he has the armoury to take on and beat Woods with anything approaching confidence.
"I'm just trying to get better but as I've said before, if Tiger is on his game, he's still going to win," Els conceded.
"If I could play to what I think I can play, and make a couple of putts here and there or chip in, who knows. It would be great to play with Tiger on a Sunday afternoon and really compete and be competitive with him and see what happens."
It's not the kind of stuff that will have Woods exactly shaking in his boots but, true to form, he is being politically correct when answering questions on a possible challenge from Els to his runaway world number one status.
"You could see his game was progressing nicely going into the Open Championship and all of sudden, boom, he played great," said Tiger.
"He handled the situation pretty well. He dug down deep when he had to, made a couple of mistakes here and there, but he dug deep and got it done. That's going to boost his confidence a lot. He's now won three majors and proved he can win the big ones. That's going to provide a nice atmosphere if we ever get the chance to go down the stretch together in a major championship, that he's done it before and I've done it before."
Given the manner in which Woods rides roughshod over his opposition once he gets his nose in front and contrast that with the manner in which Els limped to his extra-time triumph at Muirfield and you know where the wise money will go should that mouth-watering proposition come to pass.
People may be cynical and even dismissive of the influence of the many mind experts Jos Vanstiphout, Bob Rotella, John Pates etc now so much part and parcel of the professional game but there's no disputing the importance of confidence and self belief to a top-class modern professional.
In spite of his Open Championship victory, you suspect that all is still not 100% upstairs with Els. Not even when his fellow South African, Gary Player predicts he will be the next player to win the career slam does Ernie draw as much comfort as you would have expected when lauded by such a source.
"I really enjoyed the new lay-out at the Masters and so now I've got to get my game in shape to compete and be competitive," he said with a touch of hesitation. "Then we can start thinking of the rest of the stuff, but first of all, I've got to play well, I've got to strike the ball well, I've got to manage my game well and if I can do that, I've enough talent to carry me through. I've got to keep working on my game and get it in shape."
If Els isn't to claim majors on a regular basis, then he believes there is a public desire out there for Tiger's monopoly to be brought to an end.
But Woods won't be suffering any sleepless nights on that count. And he believes he has every reason to feel at home this week on a golf course measuring well over 7,300 yards and almost designed with him in mind. He made light of suggestions that this was the least significant of the four majors and especially of the three held in the US.
"I view it as a major championship and one I want to win," he declared.
"I've won it twice and I would like to add my name to that list again. It's the last of the year and you always want to end on a good note. It would have been great for this to be the grand slam week but anyone knows who plays in the Open just what can happen and it has happened.
I just got a time when the conditions were tough and I didn't hit the ball very well.
"As for people getting tired of me winning majors, I think that's something you'll have to ask them yourself. But to be honest with you, I like winning majors, so I'm going to keep trying to do it. People out there are rooting for people they want to win. It's good to see everybody cheering for other people equally."
The consensus is the closing three holes at Hazeltine will have a major bearing on the destination of the title. As most won't play driver off the 16th, they will be left with 150 yards to the flag on a peninsula green.
The 17th is a treacherous par three of 182 yards guarded by two water hazards and four bunkers. And the 457 yard 18th is heavily protected on both sides of the landing areas by sand.
"Any time you play those holes in par, you're doing well," acknowledged Woods. "You stand on the 16th and all you see from the tee is reeds. It's the hole everyone is going to remember. Seventeen is obviously dangerous as well but 18, especially if it is into the wind, is brutal."
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