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Golf

What are they missing? Something major

Els, Goosen are approaching season's end without a win between them.

By BOB HARIG
Published October 26, 2006

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ADVERTISEMENT [Getty Images] Countrymen Ernie Els, left, and Retief Goosen are winless on the PGA Tour and the European PGA Tour this season.

PALM HARBOR - They are friends who hail from a faraway country, major championship winners whose names are synonymous with success. So it seems a bit strange that they are here in the Florida sunshine, late in a long golf year, searching.

Ernie Els and Retief Goosen are not playing out the string, but with a purpose, trying to get their first PGA Tour win of 2006.

The two South Africans face a formidable field at the Chrysler Championship, which begins this morning on the Copperhead course at the Westin Innisbrook Golf Resort with 29 of the top 40 money winners competing.

Neither player won on the European PGA Tour, either, making for a frustrating season for men who have combined to win five major championships and 63 titles around the world.

"Yes, it would have been sort of a surprise," Goosen said when asked about the prospects of both being without victories on either of the major tours at this point. "For me and Ernie, it's not been the greatest of times on the golf course in the last year."

Els, who celebrated his 37th birthday at his home in England last week, has not won on the PGA Tour since the 2004 American Express Championship. That was his third win of a year known more for his close calls in majors. He finished second by a shot to Phil Mickelson at the Masters, lost in a playoff to Todd Hamilton at the British Open and missed a playoff by a stroke at the PGA Championship. Els also began the final round of the U.S. Open just two strokes behind Goosen, who went on to win his second Open.

"It's been a tough year," said Els, who suffered a knee injury in July 2005 that did as much psychological damage as physical. "I would say a good six months of the year I was still getting over the injury in the head, getting your brain to forget about what was going on, and that's been very difficult. It hasn't been the year that I've had in past years."

Els, who is ranked seventh in the world, did win in South Africa in December and he lost to Tiger Woods in a playoff at the Dubai Desert Classic, a European Tour event, in February.

He has made the cut in all 16 PGA events he has played, with six top 10s, including third at the British Open. But he enters this week 30th on the money list. Other than last year when he was injured, Els has missed the season-ending Tour Championship just once since his rookie year in 1994.

"I've had many blows the last couple of years," Els said. "It wouldn't be that big of a deal to miss the Tour Championship. But I'm looking forward to a really good week. My actual goal is to get into the Mercedes Championship (for tour winners), that's the urgency that I want. I want to start the year in Hawaii. All of the years I've started in Hawaii I have had good years. I would love to get this. The only way I can get this is to win this week or next week. That's what I want to focus on."

Goosen, 37, who is ranked sixth in the world and is 24th on the money list, has a similar mission. He won the Chrysler Championship in 2003 and the Tour Championship in 2004.

And he is coming off a confidence-boosting victory two weeks ago at the China Masters, defeating Michael Campbell in the Asian Tour event. For the first time in nine years, Goosen recently decided to consult an instructor about his swing.

He went to Gregor Jamieson, teaching pro at Lake Nona in Orlando, where Goosen has a home.

"I've been struggling with my swing coming up on two years," Goosen said. "I had to make a choice. ... I never really came close to winning this year. And I just felt that I've been struggling, not hitting it the way I know I can hit it."

He has missed just one cut - the U.S. Open - in 16 PGA Tour appearances, with five top 10s, including a second at the Players Championship and a tie for third at the Masters. His last PGA win was at the 2005 International.

"I've got two events to try and win on the tour for the (sixth) year running," he said. "So that's one of my goals in the next two weeks."

Bob Harig can be reached at (727) 893-8806 or harig@sptimes.com.

Chrysler Championship

When/where: Today-Sunday, Westin Innisbrook Golf Resort, Palm Harbor

Course: Copperhead, par 71, 7,340 yards

TV: 7-8:30 p.m. today, Golf Channel, 4-6 p.m. today-Friday and 3-6 p.m. Saturday, USA; 2-5 p.m. Sunday, Ch. 28

Happy to be here: Ernie Els, the world's seventh-ranked player, can't stop talking about how much he enjoys the challenges of Innisbrook. 10C

Ticket information

Today-Friday $30; Saturday-Sunday $35. Weekly badges are $85. Tickets may also be purchased at chryslerchampionship.com or by calling (727) 942-5566. Local Kash n' Karry stores have daily and weekly badges for sale. Will call is located at the corner of U.S. 19 and Klosterman Road.

[Last modified October 26, 2006, 02:43:59]

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