Els supports Presidents Cup change
by Ken Borland 23 November 2011, 16:34
Veteran South African golfer Ernie Els said on Wednesday that he supported the call for changes to the format of the Presidents Cup made by the International captain, Greg Norman.
Els pointed out that the Ryder Cup had to change the rules in 1979 to include golfers from continental Europe in order to give the United States better opposition.
Following the United States' 19-15 victory at Royal Melbourne Golf Club last weekend, Norman said the International team should be allowed two extra captain's picks and the hosts should be allowed to pick the format of the competition.
"I agree with Greg Norman and I was standing there with him when he was speaking to Tim Finchem, the commissioner of the PGA Tour. Greg will send a report to the Commissioner, but it's the same as the Ryder Cup - to get a better team, they brought the rest of Europe in. They had to make changes to improve the event and we need to do the same for the Presidents Cup," Els told reporters on the eve of the South African Open at the Serengeti Golf Estate on Wednesday.
Els said he also disagreed with commentators who hailed the comeback of Tiger Woods at the Presidents Cup.
"Tiger only won two out of five matches, and I know I only won one out of five, but I don't think Tiger was too strong either. If you're wanting to talk about a strong Presidents Cup then you should talk about Jim Furyk, who went 5-0.
"I know Tiger won his singles match, but by then the United States had already just about sealed the win. Tiger is playing better golf, but time will tell and we'll have to wait and see whether he's back to his best," Els said.
Els is the defending champion at the SA Open, having won his fifth title last year at Durban Country Club after holding off a determined late charge from two-time U.S. Open champion Retief Goosen.
Els said he was expecting another tough duel with Goosen in a rivalry that goes back to their early teens.
"It's a top-class field this week and I love playing in the SA Open, it's almost like a major for me. I like to play as good as I can in our national open and I'm proud that it's been mostly South Africans that have won it.
"Retief is chasing his third title and we've had quite a few good duels in the SA Open. In 1995, he beat me quite convincingly at Randpark when we played together the last two days, and in 2005 at the Links in Fancourt he chipped in on the 17th to win, I won't forget that for a while.
"Last year he went on the charge as well and gave me a bit of a fright. I'm sure everyone would love to see something like that again. We're getting on a bit now, we're like two old warhorses.
"The rivalry goes back as long as I can remember. I grew up in this area so when Eastern Transvaal played Northern Transvaal, we were always up against each other. I think the first time was in Bloemfontein in 1983, when I was 13. It started then and we've just kept it up," Els said.
Goosen himself said he was looking forward to taking on Els again, and said he hoped the undulating greens would firm up in order to keep scoring in line.
"Me and Ernie love the SA Open, it's one of the oldest tournaments in the world, one of our favourites. He's won it five times so I've got some ground to make up and hopefully we can have a good battle again like we did last year.
"The course is quite generous off the tee, but the greens are tricky with a lot of run-off areas and slopes. If you're on the wrong side of the flag, you could have some interesting putts. I hope the greens dry out, I would like to see this course play tough. The way the greens are holding now, you'll probably see some low scores out there," Goosen said.
The 101st SA Open is being played for the first time at the Jack Nicklaus-designed Serengeti Golf Estate 40km outside Johannesburg and the prize fund is one million euro for the co-sanctioned European Tour/Sunshine Tour event.