"Big Easy” is back with his win at the WGC-CA Championship.

Randall Mell at the Golf Channel lists a few of the trials, tribulations and torments Ernie has gone through and his wife, Liezl reminds us, “He’s as dedicated to his game as he was the first day he came out…Because people call him the Big Easy, it’s easy to forget how hard he works and how much he wants it.”

And his caddie Ricci Roberts said, “This was massive…“A lot of people have doubted him. He ain’t done yet.”

Randall writes, “You can trace it all back to 2004, when Els had a chance to win all four majors and didn’t win any of them.”
Starting with The Masters, Phil Mickelson birdied five of the last seven holes to beat him. Then to prove it ain’t easy he shot 80 in the last round at Shinnecock when paired with Retief Goosen in the final Sunday pairing.

Nuf said about the Shinnecock greens that year. But they sure didn’t help his putting confidence, which has been his blight for several years.

Then he was beaten by Todd Who at The Open and winded up the year three-putting the final green at the PGA Championship to miss out on a playoff

And this gem of information from Randall suggests that Ernie won’t be eager to see the return of Tiger.

“There have been other scarring losses, too many of them in beat downs at the hands of Tiger Woods. Nobody’s endured more lashings from Woods in this era than Els. He’s finished second to Woods seven times in his career, more than any other player on the planet. He once lost an eight-shot lead to Woods in the final round of the Johnnie Walker Classic in 1998.”

It ain’t easy as Rory McIlroy is beginning to learn.
“McIlroy Struggles Continue” writes Mark Garrod.

“The 20-year-old Northern Irishman, struggling with his game a month before The Masters, had a third round 73 at the WGC-CA Championship and remained near the rear of the 68-strong field on six over…Most weeks McIlroy would have missed the cut with his opening scores of 76 and 73, but in the World Golf Championships there is no cut and so he had to face the wind again.

Rory said, "I know I'll be fine and I can see signs, but I've played in pretty windy conditions the last two weeks and it's tough to get the fundamentals right.”

Not sure what he means by, “get the fundamentals right.” He’s got them otherwise he wouldn’t be in the top ten. And as for windy conditions, he was brought up on windy Irish courses.

For sure he is going through a wee rough patch and I’ll be closely watching his form.
My thoughts are he’s getting way too much into the head stuff.
90 minutes of picking Jack Nicklaus’ brains and being told to be patient could be very valuable reminder if he doesn’t immediately get back into his youthful exuberance state.

As to his recent alliance with Bob “Dock” Rotella-Ummh!

In a recent post I wrote that Rory said, “I don’t think there is anything wrong with me or my game, I just think that Bob can help me in some way and it’s definitely not going to hurt…I feel as if my putting can get better and I think he can point me in the right direction with pre-shot routine and how to think leading up to hitting the putt.”

Let’s hope help is on the way for Rory.
For sure as Bobby Jones famously said, “Competitive golf is played mainly on a five-and-a-half-inch course: the space between your ears.”
So you’ve got to be very careful about the kind of stuff you put in the space.

Here’s the link to Randall’s article
And to Mark Garrod

Thought for the day:
“Golf is twenty percent mechanics and technique. The other eighty percent is philosophy, humor, tragedy, romance, melodrama, companionship, camaraderie, cussedness and conversation” – Grantland Rice

Slainte

Stan