CHUBB CLASSIC PRESENTED BY SERVPRO

February 16, 2024

Ernie Els

Tiburón Golf Club

Quick Quotes

Q. You putted nicely. Physically do you feel a lift when you get the putter going?

ERNIE ELS: Yeah, yeah, always. There's a saying that you never really see a good putter with not a very good sense of humor. Good putters always smile. You'll see a lot of smiles from good putters. But all that's nice. I'm feeling comfortable. I'm struggling a little bit with my lower back, but I'm keeping it in play. It was okay today. Just those longer iron shots, the big swings, it pinches a bit, but I'll get treatment and keep going.

Q. What was the best part of your game to get to 6?

ERNIE ELS: I started off nice. I hit a couple of solid shots out of the gate, and I birdied the second hole, hitting a driver and a 9-iron to about eight feet and made the putt. Kept it in play, and then I birdied the par-5 -- I birdied all the par-5s. I guess that's the key out here. Par-5s, playing them in 4-under was key.

17 could have been a bit of a disaster, but I made 5 in the end, which was good. Then making that putt on 18. It kind of worked out.

Q. How long was the putt at 18?

ERNIE ELS: It was about eight, nine feet. It was a solid putt to make.

Let's see what happens tomorrow. I'm sure we're going to play golf on Sunday. I guess we're going to play real early Sunday and see what happens.

Q. What kind of lift would it give you to do something big early?

ERNIE ELS: Well, always great. Are you kidding me? I've won three events out here. Been in contention quite a few times. But some of these guys, when they get hot, they go low. There's a handful of guys that go low, that are really in fine shape. I've just got to try and get one better than them at some point and get some confidence.

Q. It's hard out here to really space yourself out in the lead. Rocco got to 9. When you saw that, what did you think?

ERNIE ELS: It's out there. There's no wind. Although I made some good putts, more missed putts. I missed about four or five makeable putts, and obviously Rocco didn't make any mistakes. But it's out there. I think there's going to be another one out there today.