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MASTERS TOURNAMENT


April 11, 2013


Ernie Els


AUGUSTA, GEORGIA

Q.  What was it like out there?  You had an eagle on 15.  General comments about your round.
ERNIE ELS:  General comments.  Well, it's beautiful conditions.  A little bit of wind here and there, which got us off a little bit.  I drove it beautiful today.  My second shots let me down a bit.  That's normally my strong point.  Missed some really shortish iron shots, which cost me, but I played the par‑5s well, which I haven't done.  So that kind of kept my round together.

Q.  Can you talk about your eagle on 15?
ERNIE ELS:  Yeah, I hit a good drive and a 6‑iron, and kind of pushed the putt, but it lipped in from about 10 feet.  Really a highlight of my round.
I bogeyed 14, bogeyed some soft holes today.  So I'd like to correct that tomorrow.

Q.  Have you seen 15 play easier than it has today?
ERNIE ELS:  Today with that flag, that's really nice of them.  You know, to see the flag back right with a little bit of breeze behind us, I mean, that's just beautiful.  Two good shots there, you can putt for eagle.

Q.  What's it like being back?
ERNIE ELS:  It was nice.  Obviously I watched it, especially the weekend on television.  I didn't watch much of the first two days last year, but when Louis got in contention I watched a lot of golf and obviously rooted for him.  It's nice to be back, obviously.  Nothing has really changed much.  I'm just glad I got in under par here for my comeback round.

Q.  What is it that makes South Africans play so well here?
ERNIE ELS:  I've got no idea.  It's just a beautiful place.  I mean, we watch it on television.  I'm sure you watch it on television.  It's like a dream come true when you get here.

Q.  Do you think always coming back to the same place makes a big difference?
ERNIE ELS:  Well, yeah.  I've been coming back here for 18, 19 times, so I should know it quite well.

Q.  You said that the strength of your game is usually your iron play and it wasn't today.  Do you have any idea why?
ERNIE ELS:  I think it's a bit of the slopes.  That's maybe one thing that I'm not used to.  I've got to play with the slope.  I was going against the slope a bit, and on 9 I pushed it right and 11 pushed it right.  I'll play with the slope a bit more tomorrow.

Q.  Can I ask you a question about Merion?  What are your impressions?
ERNIE ELS:  It's unbelievable.

Q.  When were you there?
ERNIE ELS:  I was there a couple years ago.  They had an SAP outing there, headquarters is just down the road, and they had the golf course for the day, and I couldn't wait to get there.  It was great playing it.

Q.  (Inaudible.)
ERNIE ELS:  It depends on the weather.  If the weather is good or if they have thunderstorms and it softens it, you'll see good scores.  If it's really firm and there's no rain, it's going to be like any U.S. Open, it'll be really tough.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports




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