He's one off the lead, looming in yet another major.
By BOB HARIG
Published August 14, 2004
HAVEN, Wis. - There are hints that the pain lingers, but Ernie Els is doing his best to cover up the wounds. He is contending again at another major championship, putting himself in position for another shot at glory.
Does ecstasy or agony await?
Els put himself in position Friday with 2-under-par 70 at Whistling Straits to trail second-round co-leaders Justin Leonard and Vijay Singh by a stroke.
It is a familiar spot for Els, 34, the winner of three majors in his career who very easily could have entered the PGA with all three major-championship trophies from this year.
"I'm pretty happy," Els said. "I'm still right there. I feel like I'm striking it solidly and playing nicely. I'm looking forward to the weekend.
"You've got to deal with the pressure when you're in contention, day in and day out. We practice for this, and I live for this, for this kind of moment now in my career. So I'm trying to make it fun, but it's a lot of grinding, a lot of hard work. But it can be very rewarding. I'm still waiting for that reward this year."
The theory goes that if you give yourself enough chances, eventually good things will happen.
Els has to be wondering about such a hypothesis. He played beautifully at each of the three previous majors, and has nothing but disappointment to show for it.
A final-round 67 at the Masters would have won the green jacket on most occasions, but Phil Mickelson played the back nine in 31 and birdied the final hole to edge him by a shot.
Trailing Retief Goosen by two entering the final round of the U.S. Open, Els was a good pick to win, but fell victim to the brutal conditions at Shinnecock Hills, shot 80 and tied for ninth.
But he bounced back at the British Open, where birdies at the 16th and 17th holes put him in an aggregate playoff with Todd Hamilton. An overwhelming favorite, Els played the four holes in 1 over and lost by a shot.
Now here he is again.
It is a big difference from 2000, when Els finished second in three majors, but seemed always miles behind Tiger Woods.
Woods struggled to make the cut this time. He needed three birdies on the back nine Friday to make it by a stroke, running his streak of consecutive cuts to 129. But his 69 left him nine strokes back of the leaders.
For a good part of the day, Els led, but a couple of wayward shots on the par-5 16th hole led to a bogey that dropped him a stroke back of Leonard and Els.
Leonard, who won the 1997 British Open, shot 69 to complete 36 holes at 135, 9 under par. Briny Baird, 32, who has not won in six seasons on the PGA Tour, shot 69 to finish at 136, tied with first-round leader Darren Clarke, who shot 71, and Els.
Baird, who has two top 10s in 22 events this year, was a contender at last year's PGA Championship, entering the final round in fifth place at Oak Hill. But he shot 81 to finish tied for 39th. He said that experience will not be much of a help this weekend.
"Yeah, 81 s---- on Sunday," he said. "I don't think I really learned much last year. I knew that if you get flustered and you don't stay focused. ... I knew that before I shot 81 that you can't just start hitting shots for the sake of hitting shots. I know better than that. Sometimes it just happens. Sometimes it's easy. I'm not saying you throw in the towel but sometimes it's just really, really hard to concentrate when things are not going your way."
Els could say the same. But instead of sulking, he has taken positives from his near-misses.
"In 2000, when I was second three times, I had a totally different feeling," Els said. "You know, I was in contention in one of them, at the Masters when Vijay won, but at the others, Tiger played too well ...
"Yeah, I feel a little disappointed. You give so much and you don't really get a lot given back to you. But I've got to live with that. I've got to play better, make more putts, and maybe I'll win another one. I feel a little disappointed, but taking away from my confidence, no. If you put yourself in that position so many times, you're doing something right.
"You've just got to finish it off a little bit better."
