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WGC AMERICAN EXPRESS CHAMPIONSHIP

October 3, 2004

Ernie Els

KILKENNY, IRELAND

RODDY WILLIAMS: Ernie, World Golf Championships American Express Championship champion for 2004. Great final round, managed to hold off Thomas. How do you feel right now?

ERNIE ELS: I feel great, really. It was a tough day. It was a long, tough day. The pace of play didn't help, either. You know, we got the job done. I knew the guys were going to come at me from the very first hole. I mean, Thomas hit it in there very close.

I made a good putt on 1, and I needed to get off to a good start myself. I needed to get going. I was quite positive about today. But anyway, you know, after nine holes it became a match play, a little tussle between myself and Thomas. It seemed like other guys were a little too far back to really make a big charge.

I made a good birdie on 10 and he missed a shortish putt there, and I felt a bit more comfortable, and then the very next hole he came straight back at me.

I had a couple of chances on the back nine to stretch it, but at the same time I was trying to keep my ball in play, get it on the green and try and stay at it.

Thomas, he kept me on my toes right to the last shot, last putt. It was a very tough day, but right now I'm so happy, really. It's been a tough summer. It's been a good summer but a tough summer, and this really caps it off for me, really.

Q. Is it all the more satisfying that you were pushed all the way and emerged the winner?

ERNIE ELS: Well, yeah, it seems like it. It seems like when I win, I've got to play. I don't get it served on a platter for me. All my wins this year so far have been tough ones. This was another one. As you say, I think I've got to take a huge positive from here. I mean, Thomas has come from nowhere, and he's played like he's been up there every week, so to speak. He played like Tiger or Vijay today. You know, he just wouldn't go away.

It was tough playing the weather conditions against him on a tough course, yeah. All in all, very rewarding.

Q. We caught you at a bad moment at Firestone assessing things, but would you have guessed you could have been here a month ago?

ERNIE ELS: Back at Firestone, no. I was nowhere. I should not have played that week. I mean, I spoke to you after the Sunday round. I was nowhere. You know, I was very disappointed back then, and even when I got to Europe, the Swiss Open, Swiss Masters, I was still disappointed about my season or the summer.

But as I said to you guys the other day, I really wanted to draw a line and make the switch. I needed to make the switch. I did that the last two weeks. The family, Liesl, she's been great, a great support again, this little one here and Ben, so I've had the support I needed from close family people. I had to go do it myself, and I did it.

Q. Along those lines, though, saying you're going to draw a line and doing it, it's not always easy.

ERNIE ELS: No, it's not. You know, I needed to do it, and that's what I had to do. I needed to get that out of my system and start over, otherwise I'm going to get left behind. I don't want to do that. I want to go forward in my career, I want to win tournaments, I want to get to my goals, and the only way you can do it is to move forward. You can't keep looking back.

Q. Can you afford to talk now then about the consequences possibly of not doing it today? Did it at any stage occur to you how much of a setback that might have been? Was there that much at stake today?

ERNIE ELS: Well, I think I had more pressure than anybody in the field today. If I look back now, I think Thomas was not supposed to win. Thomas is making a comeback and all of that, so I don't think he -- I don't want to speak for him, but I don't think he had all the pressure on him. I had to win it or lose it, you know, so I had a lot more pressure on me, I think, more than anybody in the field. And I think the players, the media, myself, everybody knows what I've been through through the summer. Yeah, I had a lot of pressure on me, and I think I showed that I didn't want to lose today.

Q. Is it a case that you couldn't afford to lose today?

ERNIE ELS: Well, I just said it (laughter).

Q. Are you playing with your dad next week?

ERNIE ELS: I'm going there now. He's at the Jo'burg airport right now. I just hope the weather gets better.

Q. You were closer last year, weren't you?

ERNIE ELS: Yeah. He really held on there. He played great there, but I'm going to enjoy this week and then the Match Play obviously, so I've got a couple of nice weeks coming up. I'll enjoy it. I hope he brings his game.

Q. What do you think about moving up in the World Rankings, as well?

ERNIE ELS: Yeah, it's nice, but I'm still No. 2. I've been chasing Tiger for the last five, six years, and now it seems like I've got to chase Vijay (laughter). It's fine. I just feel I'm really in a much better frame of mind right now. I think the game is on, well and truly. Vijay has won eight times, I've won four times. So it's kind of interesting.

Q. Vijay made the point a couple times this year of getting too locked in on No. 1 and it really affecting the way he played. Did you at all fall into that trap, do you think, in the last 18 months?

ERNIE ELS: I definitely tried to downplay it, because another aspect of my summer was that the No. 1 spot was up there, and I think if I won the British Open, I think I would have got in there, and the PGA, I was very close to those. But my main concern was to really try and win a tournament. Definitely, it was in my mind.

But to try and get your mindset away from No. 1 are really things that can harm you more than help your concentration. I still say the more you win, the easier it will come.

Q. Looking at Vijay's schedule, he concentrates so much on the United States now, and basically that is the route to No. 1 in the world for him. Is that a route that you would consider taking, that you would actually concentrate more on playing in the States?

ERNIE ELS: You know, I play a pretty full schedule in the States. I played 17, 18, 19 tournaments. I haven't done too badly doing what I do. There's a world out there. It's not only the United States. I mean, I know that's the stronger Tour and the more money --

Q. And the World Ranking points.

ERNIE ELS: But I've been doing okay so far. I'm not going to turn my back on the European Tour. I'm actually trying to put some more tournaments in my schedule in South Africa because I feel like I need to support the people down there. That's where I come from. They're going to move their Tour forward into November, December, so I'll try and do that, too.

I would say this: That I probably will take a couple events out of my schedule in Europe and try and put it back more into the U.S. Tour. So that's my immediate plan. But long-term, I'll keep doing what I'm doing.

Q. Vijay is clearly playing some phenomenal golf right now, but because Tiger was there so long and had somewhat of a mystique built up, do you think Vijay might be easier to catch than he was?

ERNIE ELS: I think definitely the hype will not be the same with Vijay as it was with Tiger, that's for sure. But Vijay has got so much talent, he works so hard. To get to where he is right now is hard work, and I don't think he's going to let it slip. But myself and Vijay, we've played together -- our careers have been very similar over the last 10, 11 years. Vijay finally started playing a lot more in the U.S. maybe three years ago and obviously is very comfortable there.

But, you know, Tiger had such a big lead. 99 and 2000, he had two years like Vijay had this year. If Vijay keeps playing like that, he'll obviously be very tough to beat, but I don't think there's going to be that gap like Tiger opened up, so no, it's not going to be as tough.

Q. Can I ask a couple of golf questions about the 1st and 3rd hole in particular, just the putt you had after he was -- what was he, this (indicating)?

ERNIE ELS: Yeah.

Q. 3, who putted first there?

ERNIE ELS: 3, I went first. I was just outside. That was a big putt. I needed to make that. He had a perfect, straight up-the-hill putt, and it seemed like Thomas had it going, so I needed to keep my lead and I needed to establish my challenge, because he obviously put it down on the very first hole. He almost holed it for 2. I needed to stay with him and be as aggressive as him.

Thanks, guys.

End of FastScripts.

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