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THE MEMORIAL TOURNAMENT

June 4, 2004

Ernie Els

DUBLIN, OHIO

JOAN v.T. ALEXANDER: Thank you, Ernie, for joining us for a few minutes here in the media center at the Memorial tournament. Another good round under some tough conditions and a great position going into the weekend.

ERNIE ELS: Yeah, I'm feeling okay. I would have loved to have squeezed a couple more out there, but I think the way the golf course played late in the afternoon, it started getting a little bit firmer and really tough with the wind swirling around, I felt like I could have had a little bit more out of my round on the front nine. I hit some good putts that didn't go in. But on the back, I just made one really silly mistake on 14 where I only had 115 yards and I walked off with a 5 with a bogey on 14.

But other than that, I played as solid as I could on the back, and a couple of misclubs, or whatever you want to call it. I missed a couple of greens by a couple of yards and made it tough to make pars. I'm feeling good and looking forward to a good weekend.

Q. You talked yesterday about because of the winds and everything else, maybe just pulling the club and being more committed to that. Did you do that today and did it work or not really work?

ERNIE ELS: I'm not quite where I want to be yet, but I'm getting there. I played the par 3s quite well today. I was even par on the par 3s. You know, there were still a couple of misclubs, I felt. The wind is really playing with me a little bit this week. Unlike any other week maybe this year, it's really effective for me. I don't know about other players. I thought I was a little bit more committed and a little bit better on my second shots today, but I could still improve.

Q. As many years as you've played this tournament, with it being as soft as it is fairway-wise any ways, so that hasn't changed the characteristic, what is making it so tough, the wind or the speed of the greens?

ERNIE ELS: They've got some really tough flags this week. I don't know if it's the changes that Jack has made at the deeper bunkers at some of the holes, but the flags have really been quite tucked around the edges. And then the speed of the greens, I haven't seen anything quicker than this week. And then obviously the wind, the wind is also effective.

This course is playing more and more almost like Augusta. When you really go for it and if it comes off, you're going to look great, but if it doesn't come off, it's very tough to get it up-and-down, and I think with that combination on each and every hole, it's quite a bit of pressure at the end of the day trying to grind out a score.

Q. Do you find that the trees that they've taken out have affected you more than normal?

ERNIE ELS: Well, it could be. I'm not sure. I want to think so, because it's been crazy for me this week. Almost every shot has been -- like I said yesterday, almost in-between. On 18 again, I had 172 to the hole, it's going uphill seven yards, so that's 79, and coming out of the first cut I hit it smooth, and it just kept going. The wind was just straight down, and I thought the wind was from the left. It was just fooling me a little bit.

JOAN v.T. ALEXANDER: Can we go through your birdies and bogeys starting with bogey on No. 4.

ERNIE ELS: I bogeyed 4, hit a 5-iron left into the bunker, hit it out, missed a putt from eight feet.

5, I hit two beautiful shots in there, 3-wood and another 3-wood to about ten feet. I missed it and made birdie there.

11, I hit a good tee shot, hit driver today, and hit a 3-wood on there, and then, I don't know, 10, 11, 12 feet again and kind of lipped out there, made birdie there.

8-iron on 12 to about seven, eight feet, and managed to make that one for birdie.

Then 14, I ended up 115 yards and came up short of the green and made a poor chip shot and missed the par putt from 15 feet.

JOAN v.T. ALEXANDER: What did you hit there?

ERNIE ELS: 54-degree sand iron.

Then 15, I hit a 3-wood and a 3-iron through the green and a bit of a pitch down the hill there, two feet for birdie.

Q. Is 11 a risky driver hole?

ERNIE ELS: Yeah, I felt good with the wind today, it was a little right to left. You could hold the driver up there a little bit. Yesterday I hit a 3-wood and laid up short with my second shot, so it depends where the breeze is.

Q. I think you played a practice round with Justin this week, didn't you?

ERNIE ELS: Yeah, I played nine holes with him.

Q. Can you talk about his game? Especially over here you talk about younger players, and he kind of gets left out of the mix.

ERNIE ELS: Well, he's been out here a long time. He's been out since he was 17, I guess. He's got more experience I think than Sergio, because Justin went from this great phenom to nothing, and now he's gone back up. He's kind of hit the bottom and he's back up there again, and he's worked so hard at his game.

I played with him two weeks ago in Germany, the first few rounds, and he was a bit rusty there. I think he just came off a long break, so he didn't play too well. Then last week he started playing good. He was leading after two rounds, and he's also traveling quite a bit, almost like Adam Scott. He's just one of these modern guys. He works out a lot and he's got a modern swing, he gets in a good position and he's quite a powerful player. He's got all the tools, all the talent, and I think he's got his card every year, so he's pretty much done it all already, and he's only 23, I think.

Q. I don't know your early record enough to know if you can relate to this, but can you imagine what it might do for him having led Augusta through 36 and to have that 80, 81?

ERNIE ELS: Yeah, they grinded him pretty hard in England.

Q. The press did that?

ERNIE ELS: Yes, they did. They're so friendly over there (laughter). I think he had a lot of pressure and I think he did well last week to get that monkey off his back, because I guess it was quite a big deal to lead The Masters and then have an unfortunate third round. He's bounced back well, and he's very positive about his game, it's so much better to let that happen early in your career.

Look at Mike Weir when he played in Chicago and he had that bad one with Tiger, and a couple years later he wins The Masters. So sometimes it can work to your benefit.

Q. Ernie, you said this is becoming more and more like Augusta. A, do you think that's been design or coincidence? And B, do you think it's a good thing?

ERNIE ELS: I think it's a good thing. Without adding so much length, I think Jack, his design team, they keep making it better. I think with the deeper bunkers, as I've mentioned, he's made a change on 18 -- he watches television, definitely, because even I hit it over there last year once or twice, and this year he put a bunker in there. He's such a great designer and he knows the game so well that these subtle changes made a huge difference. It's just to keep up with us, with the Tour, where it's going to with technology, and I know Augusta is his favorite place. I don't know if it's by design, but I think what he's done is good.

Q. When you came in you kind of looked a little weary like you had just taken an exam. How much more mentally challenging is this course with these conditions than most weeks on Tour? Is it a lot more? Is it almost like a major?

ERNIE ELS: Yeah, it's getting there, I think. I think it's a long golf course, and it doesn't let up anymore. There's no really easy holes anymore. Even 17, a couple years ago, it was such a wide fairway with those flat bunkers down the left. Now you have those deep ones down the left, one down the right, and really a tough finish now.

As I said, I don't think there's a hole that lets up out there anymore. So it's almost like Augusta. You walk off and you're, like, "get me a beer" (laughter).

Q. Does Augusta have a let-up hole in there? Is there one where you catch your breath? Would that be 13?

ERNIE ELS: Not 13 for me, no (laughter). Maybe one or two where you can kind of say, okay, take it easy, but not too many. Not on one green at Augusta can you let it go.

Q. You mentioned Justin's weekend at The Masters and Curtis has had a couple tournaments this year where he's had two good first two rounds and had trouble on the weekend. What does a player or what hurdle or obstacle does a player have to get through when he's young to learn how to finish on the weekend at this level?

ERNIE ELS: That's a hard one to answer. If you ask me directly, I just wanted to give myself a chance, and I still want to. I just want to give myself a chance on Sunday. You can't really think of leading the golf tournament, not if you're leading by one. If you're leading by six, you can think about your lead, definitely you will, but when you're leading by one, it's not really a lead. You've played well, but there's a lot to play for still and there's still a lot of golf to be played.

Even if I was leading today, you can't think about that. You know, you've got to get going and try and stay aggressive and play your game instead of thinking about other guys too much. I think you've got to go out there, play the golf course as good as you can, and if things go well you'll be leading anyway. It's a bit of a mental challenge, but it's a nice challenge to have. At least you know you're playing well.

JOAN v.T. ALEXANDER: Thanks, Ernie, for joining us.

End of FastScripts.

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