GARY BAINES: A Matter Of Perspective

Ernie was Something
Els at International

2000 champ at Castle Pines happily ends PGA Tour win drought

     Ernie Els was born in South Africa and lists England as his primary residence, but you won’t find many players on the PGA Tour who rank higher in the hearts of Colorado golf fans.

     So on Sunday when Els won the Honda Classic, marking his first victory on the U.S. PGA  Tour since 2004, you can bet that among the people happiest for him were those who came to know him over many years at the now-defunct International in Castle Rock.

     And why not? Els displayed loyalty to the Colorado PGA Tour stop like he has few other tournaments. In fact, aside from the major championships, there’s no event on the U.S. PGA Tour that Els has played more than the International. From 1991 through the final tournament held at Castle Pines — 2006 — Els competed 15 times in 16 years in Colorado. To this day, the only other non-major he’s played as many times is the event now known as the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

Colorado Golf Journal, Monday, March 3, 2008

The International was one of the first tournaments to help Els gain a foothold on the U.S. PGA Tour, and Els never forgot it. But it didn’t hurt that Castle Pines was one of the most beautiful locales on the Tour, and that the International treated the players better than just about anyplace this side of heaven.

     “It’s not the normal grind on Tour,” Els once told Sports Illustrated about the International. “If I had only one round of golf to play and two meals to eat, it would be at Castle Pines.”

     Els no doubt also didn’t mind the success he enjoyed at the Colorado Tour stop. No one won more money at the International over his career than did the Big Easy. He only won once at Castle Pines (2000), but he was a model of outstanding consistency. More often than not come Sunday’s final round, his name could be found on the leaderboard. In the 12 Internationals Els played from 1994 to 2006, he placed in the top 10 nine times and in the top five six times.

    In 1991, when Els was playing on the Ben Hogan Tour, the International was the only U.S. PGA Tour event to give Els a spot in the field. From then on, Colorado golf fans could bank on Els competing at Castle Pines every summer. The only International he missed was in 2005, when he tore up his knee during a Mediterranean vacation a little more than a week before the Castle Pines stop.

     That torn anterior cruciate ligament Els suffered three years ago clearly derailed his career. Until Sunday, he hadn’t won a U.S. Tour event since the injury. This from a guy who, as of the end of 2004, had 15 Tour victories to his credit, including two U.S. Opens and a British Open.

     There are some elite athletes who go into a slump and fans couldn’t care less. But Els is the opposite case. It’s hard to find golf fans who weren’t rooting for the Big Easy to get back on track.

     Els is widely known as a very  amiable sort, including by fellow competitors. And, having covered all 15 of the Internationals Els played at Castle Pines, I would rank him among the most likeable professional athletes I’ve dealt with in my 26 years in sports journalism.

     What’s not to like? Els is a guy with tremendous talent and a beautiful, rhythmic swing. He’s genuinely nice — with a great accent to boot — and isn’t too full of himself. Maybe he doesn’t have the killer instinct on the course that would make him a legitimate threat when he faces Tiger Woods, but who does these days?

    With Sunday’s win, at least Els is back in the conversation as one of the best of the rest in the world of golf.

      As Els himself wrote on his web site on Monday, “I was saying at the start of last week that top-3s and top-5s are all well and good. I mean, it shows you’re playing some good, solid golf. But I’ve always played golf to win. I guess we get addicted to that feeling and, when you don’t get your rush, you miss it. Trust me, I definitely missed winning over here on the PGA Tour, so this is a great feeling.”

      Both for Els himself and for his many supporters, in Colorado and elsewhere.

    “The fans have been really great,” Els said Sunday. “This is really a win for them as much as it is for me.”