Els is hoping to reach his first World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship final this weekend.
Feb. 27, 2009
By PGATOUR.COM Staff
ACCENTURE MATCH PLAY ELITE EIGHT: Casey | Cink | Els | Fisher | Leonard | McIlroy | Ogilvy | O'Hair
Ernie Els has gone back to the future this week at the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship.
He's playing with the kind of flat stick he used in his late 20s when he was winning all those U.S. Open titles. Callaway has recreated the putter head and he's gone back to a 35-inch shaft with a little more give in it.
Els has also found a golf course he likes in the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club. The last time he really liked the course that hosted the Accenture Match Play Championship was in 2001 when Metropolitan Golf Club in Melbourne was the venue. Until this year, that was the last time Els advanced past the second round -- in fact, he went on to finish fourth.
ELS QUOTE: "I think they have done a good job slowing up the greens a little bit. It would have been unplayable if they had them running at 12. So it's basically a bit of old style golf on the greens. Then the ball is flying a million miles here this week, so you're still coming in with short irons at some of the holes. And I've really done well with the setup of the golf course too. So I think it's good for match play."
KEY STAT: Els has won 19 holes in his first three matches. The only player to have won more than 19 holes in the first three rounds since 2003 was Justin Rose, who won 21 in 2007. He went on to finish
QUARTERFINAL OPPONENT: Stewart Cink (Saturday tee time 9:32 a.m. ET)
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| How Els Reached the Quarterfinals |
| Round 1: Defeated Soren Hansen |
4 and 2 |
| By the time Els carded his second birdie of the day on the 5th hole, he was 3 up and cruising. But he lost two of the next three holes to make it tight. But with a 1 up lead going into the 13th, Els proceeded to churn out three consecutive birdies. Hansen didn't play badly -- he was 1 under for the day -- but Els was more solid. |
| Round 2: Defeated Steve Stricker |
3 and 2 |
| Els never trailed in his match with Stricker, a former Accenture Match Play champion who came to Arizona on a hot streak after finishing second Sunday at the Northern Trust Open. The affable South African won the first hole and eventually made the turn 1 up before giving himself some breathing room in wins with a par at the 10th hole and a birdie at the 12th. Stricker then won the 14th with a birdie to go 2 down but Els answered with another birdie to win at the next and a par at No. 16 to close out the match. Els now has 11 birdies in the first two days. "When you're making birdies, you're doing something good," said Els, who recently switched back to his old-style Callaway putter. "And I'm striking the ball quite nicely." This marks only the second time in nine appearances that the Big Easy has reached the third round. In 2001, Els lost in the consolation finals to Toru Taniguchi. |
| Round 3: Defeated Luke Donald |
2 up |
| Els reached the quarterfinals for only the second time in nine appearances at the Accenture Match Play Championship by beating Donald. The Englishman, 1 down at the time, conceded the 18th hole to Els after tweaking his left wrist, the same one that had required surgery in August. Donald said he felt his wrist twinge on his 17th tee shot, and it also affected him on his next shot out of the bunker. "So rather than risk it, I wanted to play it safe and concede the match to Ernie," Donald said. Added Els: "He obviously couldn't swing the club properly." Els won the second hole with a birdie and never trailed. He was 3 up at the turn, although Donald twice cut the deficit to 1 down on the back nine before having to retire. Els gave himself some breathing room with an eagle at the 13th hole to go 2 up but promptly gave that back when he bogeyed the next hole. The only other time Els has reached the weekend of the match play event was in 2001 at the Metropolitan Golf Club outside Melbourne, Australia and he went on to finish fourth. "Maybe I got a golf course that I can play," Els said. |
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| Previous Accenture Match Play results |
| 1999 |
0 |
1 |
T33 |
| Matches: Lost to Azinger, 1 down |
| 2000 |
1 |
1 |
T17 |
| Matches: Beat Langer, 2 and 1; lost to Estes, 1 down |
| 2001 |
4 |
2 |
4th |
| Matches: Beat Kraft, 4 and 2; Tanaka, 1 up; Van de Velde, 1 up; Stadler, 1 up; lost to Fulke, 2 and 1; lost to Taniguchi, 4 and 3, in consolation finals |
| 2002 |
1 |
1 |
T17 |
| Matches: Beat Sluman, 4 and 3; lost to Lehman, 19 holes |
| 2003 |
0 |
1 |
T33 |
| Matches: Lost To Tataurangi, 20 holes |
| 2006 |
0 |
1 |
T33 |
| Matches: Lost to Langer, 1 down |
| 2007 |
0 |
1 |
T33 |
| Matches: Lost to Dredge, 4 and 2 |
| 2008 |
0 |
1 |
T33 |
| Matches: Lost to Byrd, 6 and 5 |
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