Kendall: Ernie Els is the latest ‘old guy’ to show off in the Masters
Augusta National loves its old guys.
From 46-year-old Jack Nicklaus winning in 1986 to Fred Couples perennially contending in his 50s, the Masters respects its elders and embraces them like no other golf tournament, much less major championship.
This year’s Midlife Moment is being brought to you by 45-year-old Ernie Els. The 6-foot-3 South African shot a 72 Friday to go with Thursday’s 67, good enough for 5-under par and the first page of the 2015 Masters leader board.
Els will not catch leader Jordan Spieth this weekend (Spoiler alert: No one will.), but the Masters is always better with some ready-made nostalgia on the weekend. Els, a forgotten entity here for the past 10 years here, will do nicely.
Mark O’Meara, the 48-year-old who won here in 1998, peeked his head into the old guy picture Friday with a 68 that left him 3-under for the tournament, but Els already had staked claim to the space as this year’s sentimental story.
The largest galleries of the morning followed his Friday round, which featured four birdies and four bogeys.
“I felt in control, patient,” he said. “And, I feel I’ve got a couple rounds in me when I get it all together.”
Els, who has won two U.S. Opens and two Open Championships, had a series of close calls here during his heyday. From 2000 through 2004, he finished second, tied for sixth, tied for fifth, tied for sixth and second. That run ended with a second-place finish in 2004, the year Phil Mickelson birdied five of the last seven holes and hit an 18-foot birdie putt on the final hole to beat Els by one stroke.
Els almost never recovered.
His best finish since then was a tie for 13th in 2013, and most of his efforts have been much worse. He missed the cut in four of those years and finished 47th two others. He didn’t even qualify to play in 2012, and there was “definitely” a hangover from that 2004 loss, he said.
“I was trying to wipe it under the carpet that I wanted this one so badly for so many years; definitely, there was something going on,” he said. “Kind of, you get fed up with yourself. Never with Augusta, you know, but yourself with the mistakes that you make. I kind of doubt – not doubted, but I felt that I left shots out there in that span, that five‑, six‑year span. So a little frustration set in there, yeah.”
He has made concessions to his age recently – most notably switching to a lighter shaft on his clubs – and they have started to help. After missing four consecutive cuts earlier this year, he tied for 13th at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and made the cut at the Shell Houston Open.
“I think I’ve finally, obviously, found something nice, because I drove it nicely yesterday in practice and started feeling some good momentum,” he said.
Els also is allowing himself the sentiment of an older guy. He played the Par-3 Tournament here again after a long hiatus, enjoying this week’s event with wife Liezl and children Samantha and Ben.
“We kind of are running out of time a little bit here, so we are really trying to enjoy what we’ve got left out here,” he said. “You know, it’s been 21 years coming to Augusta, it’s been unbelievable, but nothing lasts forever.”
He just needs it last two more days.
“Last week, I shot two 67s, let’s see where that takes me,” he said. “That’s about as good as a man can do. I don’t want to wish anything bad, but if (Spieth) takes his foot off the gas and gives you a bit of hope to catching him … I would love two 67s.”
This story was originally published April 10, 2015 at 7:53 PM with the headline "Kendall: Ernie Els is the latest ‘old guy’ to show off in the Masters."