BRITISH OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

July 20, 2002

Ernie Els

STEWART McDOUGAL: Ernie Els, thank you for coming after playing a difficult day, 72, 5-under. How does it feel?

ERNIE ELS: I'm just happy to be in the house. That was a very difficult day today. Especially the front nine. I mean, it was some of the toughest conditions I've ever seen in an Open Championship. I've played the Dunhill Cup in October at St. Andrews and obviously that's in October, so you expect weather like we had today and I've seen it a little bit worse than that before. Today it was a very difficult day.

The front nine it was almost not a putt to be made out there. I didn't have my putting shoes on today on the front nine. It was difficult keeping my balance in the breeze and I didn't make any good putts. I could have made a few more pars if I had putted better. The 9th hole was the really the only one that -- that was the only birdieable hole on the front nine. And I three-putted from the front edge to about 40 feet. And I felt I really gave one back there, but I played well on the back nine. The weather got a little bit better, as you saw. There were more playable holes out there for us, and I hit some good shots.

Q. As you're plodding along through the front nine, what was your goal at the moment and could you have imagined again that you could make it to 5-under?

ERNIE ELS: Well, I was standing on the 4th tee and we had a half hour wait there, and you couldn't believe how the conditions were. At that moment I really thought we were in trouble. At that stage, the only playable holes were the downwind holes and most of them were on the back nine, and we were standing on the 4th tee, so, no, to be honest with you, I never thought I would get it to 5 under. I thought, at best, to have broken 76 or 77 today would you have been a hell of a score, the way the weather conditions were.

Q. Are you thinking it's got to be like this for everybody too, the other guys have to be struggling the way I am?

ERNIE ELS: Yes, everybody that was playing at that stage. The guys that were playing in the morning, I mean, if they knew what we had this afternoon, I'm sure they would have played harder - you know (laughter) - if you asked Justin Rose about his 68 - he left quite a few shots out there. I watched him on television this morning, and some of those guys could have been leading right now. It's the most amazing thing I've seen for a very long time at this Championship.

I've seen it be calm in the mornings, blow in the afternoons, but I've never seen it like this. It was like night and day.

Q. You love to play around the world. Did that help you today in these conditions?

ERNIE ELS: I think playing a lot of links golf, especially playing in the Dunhill Cup in October, I have to thank my friend Joe Rupert, I've got to thank him for hosting the tournament for a very long time in October. That probably helped me a lot today because, as I say, I've seen it maybe a little bit worse at St. Andrews in October. But it's a totally different format, different event. There is more on the line, yes, it's a more difficult golf course.

Q. Given the conditions today, a 72 feels about like what, 5 under, 6 under?

ERNIE ELS: It feels like yesterday's round, in a way. I'm really pleased with the round. I cannot explain it well enough, I don't think. Even when it was calm, you know, there's so much pressure. You don't want to let shots go because you know now it's calm; now you're supposed to play better and you're supposed to catch up, so I was really pleased the way I came in, and now I'm in the lead by two, so it doesn't happen very often.

Q. What clubs did you hit on 4 and 5?

ERNIE ELS: On four I hit a 2-iron and I hit it to the right. It would have come up short. I think that hole -- it was 212 yards and I normally hit a 2-iron about 235, so I didn't get to the front of the green even. On 5 I barely made it to the fairway. I hit the drive very solid. My second shot I tried to hit a 3-iron up there short of the bunkers on the left and I came out of that shot, went into the high stuff, then I had to hack it out, and then I hit a low bump-and-run 7-iron for my fourth shot. I actually had a putt to save par but I missed it.

Q. How many times did you look at the leader board to make sure everyone else was suffering?

ERNIE ELS: I watched it all the way. I was quite surprised on the front nine. Myself and Shigeki, we kept dropping shots and they wouldn't take us off the leader board, so I felt pretty good about that (laughter). So I knew at that stage, nobody was really having a lot of fun.

Q. From a psychological standpoint what is the difference of going into a final round in a major with Tiger in contention and not in contention, for guys who are like yourself?

ERNIE ELS: Well, a lot. A lot really, believe me. You would know that.

I know you're waiting for my comments, but I'm not sure where Tiger is at the moment.

Q. He shot an 81.

ERNIE ELS: Well, it depends on the weather and everything tomorrow, but I mean, you know, I've got to look at other guys now, but definitely if Tiger was at 2 under - and not taking anything away from other guys - but we all know Tiger is - I'll leave it at that. There are a lot of other players that are playing really well and guys that got really lucky with the draw today and did their job in the morning and they're in contention now, so there's a lot of guys in contention tomorrow. It's going to be quite tight.

Q. Any particular shot or hole that helped you turn it around?

ERNIE ELS: Yeah, definitely the little putt on 10 for my par. I hit two really beautiful shots into 10. I hit a 3-iron in there on to the front edge and the way I was putting at that stage, just a two-putt was good. I almost made my first putt. I went past about six feet and when I made a little putt I felt good. It's difficult, you know, for you to maybe understand that, but I was sliding a little bit. I three-putted on nine for par, and I think I could have lost my composure if I didn't make that little putt. And then next I made a long one for birdie.

Q. Where was the weather slacking, about the same time?

ERNIE ELS: Yes, it started slacking on 12. I hit a pretty good drive on 11. I chipped a little 7-iron in there.

On 12, I saw the wind starting to drop, and even on 13, I could hit a 5-iron up there. I'm sure the guys earlier couldn't even get there with 3-irons or 4-irons.

Q. You talked before about this tournament being the most important --(inaudible)

ERNIE ELS: I don't know if it's the most important, but it's one of the most important. Any major is important, but at an Open Championship with such an open field from right around the world, it's got to be the biggest -- how should I put it -- the biggest international field in the other majors. And then the type of golf we play, and the history in this tournament, you know, any of the four are as important, but the Open Championship is the Open Championship.

Q. Were you surprised when you looked at the leader board not to see Tiger's name go up at any point and what's your reaction to his shooting 81?

ERNIE ELS: I think today for the time first I really didn't think a lot about Tiger (laughter). Other days, when it might have been calmer, you look at the leader board and wait for his charge or listen to the crowd or whatever. But today, to be honest with you, he was the furthest thing from my mind. I was just trying to survive myself and looking at the leader board, you know, so was everybody else. Today wasn't a day of Tiger-watching for us.

Q. (Inaudible)

ERNIE ELS: I'm sure the Scottish people really enjoyed it today, watching us play. They must have really been laughing because they probably play in this 80 percent of the time. Maybe 75 percent of the time. It was one of the most difficult days that I can ever remember in an Open Championship, myself, and for the rest of the field, and yeah, we had it pretty calm the first two days, and nobody really did anything -- I couldn't get anything going on this golf course and today it showed its real teeth.

Q. You had a long time to wait before your 3:30 tee-off time, did you spend time watching TV? How much time did you prepare before the round? Obviously the weather was bad...

ERNIE ELS: I was going to sleep in a little bit, but then we watched rugby this morning.

Q. Disappointing?

ERNIE ELS: That wasn't a good start to the day already. I watched a bit of golf, had breakfast. I wanted to go out and practice this morning, but it rained a little bit this morning. Unknown to me it was only going to get worse. I should have gone to hit some balls like I wanted to do. I didn't do that. I had lunch late and then it really started blowing and coming down and I had to go and warm up. Time went pretty quick this morning.

Q. I assume the key to your day was the front nine (inaudible) others gave up many, many more. Was that the key of trying to hang on?

ERNIE ELS: You have to try to keep the damage as minimum as possible. Again, if I could have putted a little better, but I was really not very balanced out there. I'm pretty tall and it's tough for me to putt when it's really blowing a lot. If I could have made a couple better putts, I probably could have turned in 2 over, but as it turned out, I will it took 72 on any day on a day like today.

Q. How many bogeys did you walk away from and say that was a good bogey?

ERNIE ELS: A couple. The one on 6, after I hit my second shot into the high stuff. And probably the one on 4 also. I really had a pretty tough lie there just short of the green on the right in the thick stuff, and I got it out. But I got it to a pretty decent spot where I could have made a putt, but it's not always you're happy about bogeys but the one on 6 was good.

Q. Even in the toughest conditions, do you think it would have been hard for Tiger to shoot an 81?

ERNIE ELS: He could have shot anything today. It was the most difficult conditions I've seen in an Open, as I say. You could have shot anything today. If you didn't keep it in play, and you had a couple of bad breaks, if you didn't putt well, there's so many things that could happen in your game today. So he could have shot anything today.

Q. I realize there is pressure in any major, how is it different when (A) you're leading and (B) Tiger is nowhere to be found?

ERNIE ELS: It's more comforting than when he's around, obviously. But I can't take it easy. I have to go out and play as hard as I can as I have all week. Others want this Championship as bad as I do, so at least, you know, Tiger is going to shoot a very low number tomorrow to get back into it. There's a lot of work left, but it's a lot more comforting.

Q. What conditions would be your preference tomorrow?

ERNIE ELS: I'm not sure. Today I really grinded out, a 72, but obviously not as bad as today. Anything better than today would be great. I think it will be fair for the field if it blows a little bit; especially for the guys that played in the morning today to feel how the golf course really plays, but who knows.

STEWART McDOUGAL: Ernie, thank you.

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