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U.S. OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

June 18, 2004

Ernie Els

SHINNECOCK HILLS, NEW YORK

Q. Ernie, yesterday you were 3 over, now you're 3 under. How do you turn around and get back like that? What have you done?

ERNIE ELS: I played golf. I just kept going, just kept plugging. And, you know, I got it back yesterday. Today I felt good. I didn't have the bad start I had, either. I felt good.

The front nine I made four birdies, from 5 through 8. That got me right back into it. And I couldn't quite get going on the back nine again. But I'm obviously thrilled to be where I am after my start of yesterday. But it's a U.S. Open and you've got to keep plugging. We've had two pretty nice days weather-wise, so it depends on the weather the next couple of days. You might win this thing over a par score.

Q. From your own experience winning a major, can you see a change in Phil after his Masters victory?

ERNIE ELS: Yeah, I think you win a major, obviously you know you can do it, and there's a definite psychological jump that you make. When you win a major championship, there's so many things you have to battle through and overcome. And when you've won one, you know how to win.

And obviously Phil's obviously been a great player, but he just never has won a major until when was it, April. So you get more confidence and you feel you can win more. And I'm sure he's -- that's where he is now.

Q. Phil winning The Masters, they call that a feel-good story?

ERNIE ELS: He won that tournament. Again, I'm going to keep saying it. I'm not going to go where you want me to go. He won it.

Q. Everybody loved that win.

ERNIE ELS: I got the pretty bad knife. He did what he had to do. I still feel pretty good about my play there. It was very difficult sitting on that putting green. You obviously know what happened there. It's kind of difficult to take that. But again, he did what he needed to do. And he overcame that obstacle I just spoke about. It was tough, but I'm fine with it. I finished second quite a few times.

Q. Will your key U.S. Open wins serve you well as you go into the weekend?

ERNIE ELS: I think so. Even if I -- I think I'm playing at a level I feel like I can win. And you just want to give yourself a chance, like I did in April. I feel I can give myself the same chance and maybe a better chance this time. The greatest player ever finished second 18 times. I finished second maybe five times. So some weeks -- other weeks the guy beats you.

Q. Would you like to have another opportunity to have a showdown?

ERNIE ELS: You just want to have a chance. You want to feel that you can take it home and you want to play great. It's a long way to go, when you're halfway through it. There's so many guys in it. There's weather issues. The wind starts blowing, as I say, you've got to hang on. There's many things that can still happen. But I've got a chance.

Q. (Inaudible).

ERNIE ELS: That was four or five weeks after, I said well done.

Q. Vijay and others said they'd like to have the wind kick up. What are your thoughts about that?

ERNIE ELS: Well, it's a tough enough golf course. Definitely it's tough when the wind blows. We've had two beautiful days and 6-under is leading. If the wind blows, with the greens getting a lot firmer, anything can happen. Anything can win.

With Vijay saying that, I'm sure he's a very good wind player. But you've got to get the ball in the hole, if it's good, bad, ugly, you've got to play. Anybody can win.

Q. What can you tell us about Maruyama that we don't know?

ERNIE ELS: I played with him last week at Westchester and he missed the cut, and obviously he did some practicing, and he's got his game together. He's a good putter. He hits the driver very well. And he's become a very solid player. He's got a good short game. He's been around for a long time. He's had a couple of looks at majors already.

Q. Presidents Cup he was a good teammate?

ERNIE ELS: He was great. Always smiling, always laughing. I didn't quite understand what he said. When he smiles, you just smile with him. He's a good guy, he has a good heart.

Q. (Inaudible).

ERNIE ELS: Always, yeah. That's why we practice. We are sometimes in fear of losing it, in fear of not winning another golf tournament. Yeah, it's like any top athlete, there's always a little bit of fear in there that it might go. So, yeah, I feel for David. He's a good friend of mine. But I still believe he'll be back. I just think he wasn't into his game, and I think when he gets his concentration back, he'll be good again.

End of FastScripts.

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