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SONY OPEN IN HAWAII

January 16, 2005

Ernie Els

HONOLULU, HAWAII

TODD BUDNICK: We thank Ernie Els for stopping by after he tied the course record with an 8-under 62.

Quite a run there today, Ernie, just not enough to make it three in a row. Talk a little about that today.

ERNIE ELS: Yeah, I played well today. I threw a little 3-putt in there, the bogey on 14, but, you know, other than that, I played pretty good. Missed a couple of fairways here and there, but I played more the way I knew I can play this golf course. It was fun and exciting, and especially the finish. Finishing birdie, birdie, eagle was really great.

I had a really good time. But I always felt I was going to be just a little shy, because, you know, you think the leader tees off at 10-under, you would think 12-under would be the number. But I still had a great day.

TODD BUDNICK: We'll jump right into questions.

Q. Did it go longer than you thought, the suspense when you walked off the 18th green?

ERNIE ELS: Yeah, they did take a bit longer than I thought. But, I mean, Vijay looked like he was playing really solid. He didn't miss a fairway or a green coming in. He did what he had to.

But I still think 11, might be even 12, could still be the winner here.

Q. Are you going to stick around to find out?

ERNIE ELS: No, I'm out of here.

Q. You talked on the tele about giving yourself some confidence heading into San Diego. Did you need that? You've been striking the ball quite well for two weeks it seems like.

ERNIE ELS: Yeah, I've been striking it quite well. It's just that I haven't finished my rounds off the way I've felt that I should. Today definitely was a good finish to my round and my tournament.

So it's always great to finish a tournament the way I did this afternoon. So hopefully it will keep me going for next week.

Q. Are you pleased with your performances these last two weekends?

ERNIE ELS: Yeah, I think the finishes on paper is pretty good. You know, this week I left a lot out there the first three rounds. Today I made up for it, and, you know, finishing the way I did last week wasn't great. But, yeah, on paper, I've got to be happy with that. It's two good finishes, two Top 5s, so it's good.

Q. Yesterday you were working on the range a little after your round and it seemed like you were a little frustrated. Did you find something or work on something?

ERNIE ELS: No, I was actually not frustrated at all. I was swinging the club so well yesterday. I just wanted to keep it going. I've got a little move I'm working on. I saw Lead earlier in the week, and I just wanted to make sure that it's still there for today. I was just kind of fine-tuning, if you will.

Q. Your history at Torrey Pines; none?

ERNIE ELS: At all. I haven't played there since Junior World, since '87. So I haven't been there.

Q. They have lengthened it since then, I think.

ERNIE ELS: I've played a company there, after the Bridges last year, so I've seen it. I still remember the way it used to play, but it's definitely a lot different now. And especially in January, it's going to play so long.

Q. That wasn't the one where you waxed Mickelson, was it?

ERNIE ELS: No. I got him at Balboa Park, the 13 and 14 age group.

Q. What did you do at Torrey; do you remember?

ERNIE ELS: I had a couple of Top-10s I think. I'll have to go back in the history. I can't remember so well. I don't think I even had a chance to win there, but I think I finished Top-10 maybe once.

Q. We're not going to find that on your Web site, are we?

ERNIE ELS: You can look, maybe, I don't know. (Laughs.)

Q. Is putting the biggest difference from the last couple of years, this week?

ERNIE ELS: Yeah, I think so. I wasn't very comfortable on the greens the first couple of days. I made a putter change, same style putter, but with a little bit more loft. And I changed my putting style a little bit.

Q. Is this yesterday or today?

ERNIE ELS: Well, third round -- when was it, Saturday, yeah. I didn't make as many putts as normally.

Q. Your putting last week at Kapalua, was that mechanic or grain as you look back on it?

ERNIE ELS: A little bit of both. I wasn't comfortable, and the last two weeks and I kind of found my comfort zone maybe today and the back nine yesterday.

But I think, you know, putting is such an individual part of the game that, you know, nobody putts the same way.

When I feel comfortable over the ball, everything is kind of in sync; I putt very well normally. But I just haven't felt very comfortable. Maybe it's from the layoff.

Q. Do you think it's going to be a big adjustment going from here on these type of greens to California?

ERNIE ELS: Yeah, well, it's totally different surfaces, isn't it. We're going from quite firm, fast stuff here to very soft; who knows what we're going to find next week. It might be a little bumpy and so forth. But hopefully the weather stays good. It's good there at the moment.

Q. Did you add San Diego late?

ERNIE ELS: I made my schedule last year in October and I'm probably going to hopefully stick to the schedule and play those tournaments. I was happy to see San Diego being moved forward, and it makes sense to go from here so San Diego than go to Phoenix or something.

Q. Was there any part of the decision the fact that they are going to have an Open there pretty soon?

ERNIE ELS: I would have to say yes, yeah, but the major factor was that they moved it forward. Normally it's near the Match-Play or L.A., so that was the major move. But it helps that it's going to be a U.S. Open venue. You want to see what it's all about.

Q. What can we take away from these first two weeks, out of the 48 weeks of the year? I know it's early, but we have a couple of week where is it looks like a guy is coming from four off the pace; one in part by mistakes that were made on the back nine and there's always going to be a couple of guys kicking themselves over some putts that got away throughout the week.

ERNIE ELS: Well, I mean, it's hard to know. The last two weeks I think, obviously. You've got to play solidly for four rounds to win golf tournaments out here.

The final round, you've got to go forward. You don't make pars and win golf tournaments out here with a par final round. So I think that will stay the same for the season.

You've got to shoot something under par in the final round. But, you know, who knows, today I almost got something out of it, it would have been great to come from eight behind or something and make a playoff. But I don't think that will happen too often, guys coming from so far behind and winning.

But I think you've got to play four solid rounds of golf.

Q. Is there anticipation, a little more anticipation going to San Diego next week? Tiger is in the field and Phil is in the field, and obviously Vijay and yourself, and you have two weeks under your belt and so does Vijay. Is there anticipation and more excitement about the ability to get out there with those guys?

ERNIE ELS: Well, you know, week-in and week-out I want to perform and play well, no matter what the field is. Obviously it's a strong field, and Tiger and Phil are going to be there. We're going to have a strong field.

But me personally, I just want to keep working on the stuff that's been working for me the last couple of weeks. I feel my swing has come around nicely. My putting stroke is coming around a little bit now. I just have to learn the courses again and tee it up on Thursday and hopefully feel good about it.

Q. You guys are all obviously focused on your own games, but I take it there was no one expecting Vijay to disappear?

ERNIE ELS: No, I mean, he's top of his game right now. He's swinging well and he's doing everything really good. He's got a lot of confidence. So a guy like that, with all of that talent, he's not going to go away, but I'm not too far behind him. It's a long year and we've got a lot of golf to be played.

But you can't think about a guy like that faltering. You've got to go out there and beat him.

TODD BUDNICK: All right, thank you.

End of FastScripts.

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