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BMW PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

May 23, 2007

Ernie Els

SURREY, ENGLAND

RODDY WILLIAMS: Thanks for coming and joining us, and welcome to the 2007 BMW PGA Championship here at Wentworth Club, and home away from home for you. Well, home for you, isn't it. It doesn't get much better than this here at Wentworth, does it?
ERNIE ELS: Yeah, especially when the weather is like it is like now. You know, it's a wonderful place and as you say, it's home for me. Been home for quite a few years now and nice to play the second biggest event in Europe at your home course.
Really looking forward to it. The household is quite busy this week. It's Samantha's birthday on Friday, and my wife is hosting the wives and all kind of stuff so it's a nice week for us.
RODDY WILLIAMS: And a few changes to the course since last year as well. Obviously you've been working on it, a few more modifications for this year. Are you looking for to the challenge of the West Course once again.
ERNIE ELS: Yeah, we couldn't quite do all the changes last year. We ran out of a bit of time. So we actually intended to do, the whole plan was to do it, what you see right now. That's why we did these changes this year, and I think right now, I think we're done with all that we needed to do.
So I think the guys in every way can relax now and I think this should be the finished product hopefully.
I think Chris Kennedy and his crew, again, have done an unbelievable job getting the course in great shape. Right now, the weather is great, and I think if it can stay this way, we're going to have a great championship; it will be the best ever. You know, it is what it is and I think that the update at Wentworth is closer to a major championship challenge than it's ever been.
Like everything, the equipment has changed and golf courses have had to change. We didn't want to make a mockery of the whole place, but I think the updates have been -- I think it's up-to-date now so to speak. You know, you've got to be more accurate off the tee. You've got to shape your shots into the greens, and, you know, that's what we try to do.

Q. Is it putting a premium from what I can see up there, is there a premium on driving accuracy, like the one where you've done that bunker down on No. 4 on the left-hand side of the hill, and the new one out on the right, you just can't fly it out there.
ERNIE ELS: Yeah, it's little things here and there. But basically, there's still a lot of room for the guys to shape their shots into the fairways.
It's just, you know, you can't just stand there on the first tee and just blast it left or right and hope for a good lie in the rough. If you miss a shot now, you're either going to go in the left bunker or right bunker. The left bunker on the first tee, just take an example here, is 280 away. So the shot is to aim at the far bunker and fade the ball into the fairway. And we've got quite a few of those instances.
I think No. 9 is the same. You've got three bunkers down the right side, but if you miss your shot to the right, you shouldn't really have a clear shot to the green; that's a 40-yard miss. So we try and penalise shots that are wayward. We give you bunkers, targets to play the ball off, you know.
So there's a lot of tee shots that you have to fade on this course and quite a few that you have to draw. I think if you look at the balance, it balances out quite nice.

Q. How many extra bunkers have you put in since last year?
ERNIE ELS: Put one in on 9; two on 8, that's three. One extra one on 18 on the right. On 4, short right, and one on 11. And then we narrowed the creek or whatever; the slute, as we say in South Africa on 12, we brought that out closer to the fairway. So to get through there on the left side I think it's 292 to get to the left side and to the right side is a bit further. I think it's about 295. To go through the muddle, I think you've got 34 yards. So still there, but at least you see the trouble now.

Q. How do you feel about your own game? Obviously you were very close at Hilton Head; do you feel that you're almost overdue to win that?
ERNIE ELS: Yeah, I was really good for two rounds. Played pretty good the final round for nine holes. So I was good for two-and-a-bit rounds.
Then the last two events I played in the States, Wachovia, I was a little disappointed with my play there. At TPC, I hit the ball from tee-to-green really well. I've been putting well all year. My putting left me at TPC. I was really not good on the greens. So I was disappointed with that.
But I feel my game, you know, is not bad. And I feel like I've been saying this for two years now, but you know, I'm really not playing that bad. I just need to kind of kick on a little bit.

Q. What sort of remarks do you get from the members, as opposed to the top players, about the alterations?
ERNIE ELS: They say they need a shovel. (Laughter) They need a shovel to go out on the golf course.
No, listen, I think the members have taken it very well. You know, as I say, I think with such a big event, and we've got two here at the West Course, it needed to be updated, and the members agreed. You know, my plan here was to get the field, yeah, this week, in May and go to a U.S. Open from here and not feel like, you know, where the hell did this golf course come from.
This golf course right here with the rough, with the bunkering, the way the greens are going to play, is not too far off from any kind of U.S. Open you're going to play. And even at the Open Championship, I've been at -- my love of links golf, you can see that has come back into the West Course. The bunkering on links courses, it gives you options, but also plays a couple of tricks with your mind if you miss shots. That's kind of what I've incorporated into this update.

Q. Do you feel an advantage knowing the course so well coming into this big event?
ERNIE ELS: I would hope so. I think the guys, it will take me one or two practise rounds, and you'll know where to go. It's kind of right in front of you. But yeah, I know exactly the reason I put the bunkers there and how farther. So I don't know if that's going to help me or not. Maybe it doesn't. But hopefully it does.

Q. Just going back to that U.S. Open point last week at the Irish Open again, it was a very tough course setup with long rough very similar to the test of the U.S. Open. Just wonder how much better prepared you feel European Tour players are going to be when they get to Oakmont if they played last week and obviously now this week at Wentworth.
ERNIE ELS: Well, I never saw last week but I heard it was quite tough. All I can talk about is this course that we've done. I think that the slope that we have on the greens, the undulating greens that we have here, it reminds me a lot of a Westchester or golf courses in that New York area.
So obviously a lot of those courses have hosted U.S. Opens and it's very close to what they have over there. The guys that play here -- the U.S. Open is right around the corner, only three or four weeks away, so I think they will be much better equipped. They will have a much better idea of what to do when they get to Oakmont.

Q. You mentioned Oakmont a couple of times. Is it difficult for you to not think that far ahead? It was such a big breakthrough for you, wasn't it; when will you go back and take a look at the changes there for the first time?
ERNIE ELS: Yeah, I've spoken about it quite a few times in the last week or so. Obviously the U.S. Open is coming closer.
You know, all I want to do is just get my game where it should be and when I get it there, I feel I'm going to win tournaments again. So I'm really working hard on that. You know, Oakmont obviously was a huge breakthrough for me in my career. It was almost like a bit of a shock the way it happened. I was only 24 years old. But believe me, you'd rather win something like that at an early age than -- I see now how tough it is to win a major, you know.
So when it happened, it was quite a shock, but it was something that I needed and it really jump started my career obviously. Put a bit more pressure on my career, but I felt I could cope with that. I felt there was a lot more to come.
You know, going back there it will be great. They have obviously made a lot of changes and I'll check it out after the Memorial Tournament. I'm staying over for a week before.

Q. Does it feel 13 years ago?
ERNIE ELS: No.

Q. Do you remember everything about it?
ERNIE ELS: That's 13 years ago, it's unbelievable. I'm 37 and, you know, time is going quickly. (Laughing).
I've heard a lot of good things about it. My joke with my wife, I said to her, "You know, when we go back now, I think we'll go stay in the same hotel as we did at that time."

Q. Which was?
ERNIE ELS: I can't really remember the name of it, but it was -- at least you could park your car right in the front door.

Q. Motel then.
ERNIE ELS: Motel. Exactly.

Q. Getting back to this course, Retief had some comments about the greens last year; you know about that. Were his complaints valid and have you made any changes to kind of eliminate that kind of criticism? Were you able to do anything?
ERNIE ELS: It's easy to criticize. I was also a little critical of the greens last year. But I knew why they were not on good standards; because of ail the bloody rain we got. I don't know how many inches of rain you've got. I don't care even if you have Augusta if you have, those things under the greens, the Sub-Air, even those greens would have been bumpy all over the place.
When you have rain like that, I don't care where our, you're going to have problem, make not a sea side links because you have sand under there and the water will go away quickly.
So it was a little unfair of him to say that, but, you know, I think this year will be a different story. The point's taken, you know, what Retief said, also, is that, you know, Chris got in some new machinery and put some holes in the greens and he's got a new machine that takes off that growth of the poa annua. So what Retief said, you know, the guys here at the club take notice and they are trying to better it.
And I think this year, if you look at the greens right now, they are perfect. And the week before last year's event, I played the course in this kind of weather and I thought the course was perfect then. But then the rains came and Chris couldn't do anything about that.

Q. You've got a fantastic record here in The Match Play. Never seem to have been able to match it in the stroke-play event. Any thoughts on why that has been?
ERNIE ELS: You know, I think I've answered this question quite a few times, but I think the style of play is different.
You know, I've had success, major success in the World Match Play, and no other match-play event have I had success like that. If you look at the Accenture Match Play, I seem to lose in the first or second round every year. So for some reason, I just love playing match play around the West Course.
You know, the style of play is different, and I haven't done as well as I wanted to do at the stroke-play events over the years, and I'd like to change that this year. I think I know how to play the course. I just need to do that.

Q. How much was the motel?
ERNIE ELS: Yeah, I can't remember that so well. As know, at those major championships, they triple all of the prices, so I guess we played about $200 for a room.

Q. Can you remember something foul about it?
ERNIE ELS: No, it wasn't really foul. It was funny to stay in that motel. I used to do that when I played on the Hogan Tour, you know, when you try to save money staying in a Motel 6 or a Motel 8 for 32 bucks.
There's not too many places around Oakmont, not too close. My driving directions in Pittsburgh wasn't that well so, we found this motel quite close to the course, which was fine.

Q. But you're not going to stay there again?
ERNIE ELS: No, no. We're going to get a house this year. (Laughter) go have a beer there maybe.

Q. Knowing the West Course so well, what sort of scores do you think will be shot around the West Course this week?
ERNIE ELS: What score?

Q. Yeah.
ERNIE ELS: I think it will be a little more difficult than past years, but I still fancy -- if the weather is good, I still fancy 12 to 14-under par winning score, play proper golf.
RODDY WILLIAMS: Best of luck.
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