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THE TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP PRESENTED BY COCA-COLA

September 25, 2009

Ernie Els

ATLANTA, GEORGIA

Q. Can you talk about your round a little bit, lots of birdies and just one bogey.
ERNIE ELS: I played nice. I played good yesterday, but today I had a couple of putts. Kept the ball in play most of the day, really felt comfortable with my ball-striking. I tried to play to the percentages.
One big mistake was on 6. I hit it in the water there, but I got it up-and-down for bogey. So that was a big save.
Other than that, you know, I played pretty solid.

Q. How did the course play?
ERNIE ELS: The course is playing unbelievable. Greens are quite firm, a little softer than yesterday. The flags were a little easier today than yesterday, so I think you're going to see some good scores overall today.
Greens are fine. I mean, the whole golf course is unbelievable. It's really in great shape after all the rain. It's mindboggling. Shows you what a bit of air can do under the greens.

Q. What is it going to be like to play for Greg Norman and what he's going to be like as a captain? How good a captain will he make?
ERNIE ELS: We'll wait and see. He was a good teammate. He was a good guy to play with. Yeah, we'll have to wait and see. I don't know. If he gets lucky and gets the right pairings and we get points on the board, he's a great captain (laughing), so it all depends on how we play, really. If we play well, he'll be a great captain.

Q. You're going to Scotland next week, then coming back. Obviously this is nothing new for you, but do you think about it? Do you have to pace yourself, be careful? How do you do that?
ERNIE ELS: Well, that tournament has been so dear to myself and my dad. You know, we've played it ever since they changed the format. You know, except for last year, we made the cut until the fourth day every time. So it's a great time for me and my dad to be together at the home of golf.
A great friend of mine is sponsoring the tournament, running the tournament. So for me, I get to see my friends. I know it's a long way to fly. It's one of my good weeks of the year, believe it or not. I kind of relax with my dad, and we don't get enough time through the year. It's going to be a long flight, but that's why we've got to plan.

Q. Are you in the whole Race to Dubai stretch, too?
ERNIE ELS: No, I'm going to take some time off. I'm probably going to play Singapore because I've got a contract there. I'll play Dubai, and then I'll probably not play in South Africa. Maybe I'll go to South Africa and have a real Holiday instead of work. Any time I go down there I've got to play, and maybe I'll just have a holiday this time.

Q. You've had worse trips than Atlanta-Scotland-San Francisco, I'm sure, but still, do you just not think about it? Do you go to sleep on the plane and wake up in Scotland and don't think about it?
ERNIE ELS: Exactly. Well, I can't recover so good anymore. I'll give the Heinekens a week off. I've got a G5. It flies straight in. I don't have to stop anywhere, so I sleep. And from there back to San Francisco, I'll sleep. I'll do a lot of sleeping, a lot of resting. It's just the time change, that's all.

Q. Are you surprised about Adam Scott making the team and could you see that potentially backfiring for him given the fragile state of his game right now?
ERNIE ELS: Well, I think you hit the nail on the head. I think he's got a lot of pressure on him. From us, we will support him. I know I will and I know Greg will. But he's going to be under the spotlight a little bit.
But you know, this is maybe something he needs. He's been real quiet this year. I know he's been working hard at his game, but it just hasn't been functioning for him. Hopefully for him he has a great week. He's a great team guy, he's a great friend of mine. I'd love for him to do well, and hopefully I can play with him at some point.
It's a tough deal. For Greg choosing him and for Adam now having the year he's had to go play in the spotlight, it's going to be difficult, but hopefully it goes well.

Q. What made Greg a good teammate?
ERNIE ELS: His intensity. He was very intense when we played. He was world No. 1 or close to world No. 1. You know, he was very professional, and you know, he was just -- he embraced the team. He wasn't off on his own. He was in the team kind of talk and in the spirit of things, let me put it that way. He was that kind of a guy. And there's enough Aussies on this team so he can feel comfortable again.

Q. What about getting yourself in the mix here. You're right there after today.
ERNIE ELS: I played nicely today. I've felt my swing was good ever since I got here. I've had a nice run into this week and I haven't had too many company days because of stuff going on. I've been into the week early on, so I feel good.
As I say, I've been working on putting and watching what Tiger does a little bit, so I'm -- if I can keep it up, I might have a chance actually on Sunday. You never know.

Q. About 15 minutes ago Stewart Cink tied for the lead and then he put his next two shots out of bounds on 10. Should you get up into the lead, what do you do to keep in yourself to play your game and to hold on?
ERNIE ELS: Well, that's the million dollar question. We all say we want to do that, and we try and do that. You know, you try your hardest to just be in the moment and hit the shot, but every now and again, you know, that's just the nature of the game. You start thinking about things and you don't want to do that.

Q. The Presidents Cup has been so dominated by the U.S. How important is it for the Internationals to get this win this time to get one back on this side of the column?
ERNIE ELS: You know what, they're just going to move it south. When we go south, we're good. We either win or we actually tie. When we play north, we have difficulty, so move it south.

End of FastScripts

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