Ernie Els is on fire in the final stretch of this year. Let’s now see if Ernie Els can close.
Els finished T-4, T-3 and T-7 in his last four tournaments. Els’ 8-under-par 63, bogey free, has given him a two shot lead at Phoenix Country Club after 18 holes of the Charles Schwab Cup Championship.
After his round, he stated: “Hopefully I will have this feeling tomorrow and in the days to follow.” I have been playing decently the last three or four weeks, so I am confident that I will be able to bring some game. We’ve got until Sunday to go, and I hope that I can be in contention on Sunday.
This 72-hole event is a no-cut tournament, as Steve Stricker withdrew from the tournament before it started. Els has already secured the season’s championship, so he is trying to make the most out of the week when everyone is battling for second.
According to Phil Blackmar of Golf Channel, some equipment changes have worked out well.
Els: “I thought I would try something different the last week of the season, so I used a lighter shaft and a driver head that was made by XXIO.”
Other pre-tournament favourites this week are already behind. The defending Schwab Cup winner Steven Alker is four shots behind, Bernhard Langer is five shots back and Padraig harrington, the defending tournament champ, shot 69 and he’s six shots back.
“We have a lot of work to do. I won’t even think about it until Sunday afternoon, if I am in contention. But to play well this week and finish off an otherwise steady year would be fantastic.”
