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VALERO TEXAS OPEN

May 15, 2010

Ernie Els

SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS

DOUG MILNE: Okay. Ernie, thanks for joining us for a few minutes after finally getting through round 2 of the Valero Texas Open. It was obviously worth the wait, 5-under 67 today. Just a couple comments on how you're feeling about your game and the course and if you're ready for 36, hopefully, tomorrow.
ERNIE ELS: Yeah. No, obviously pleased with the round of golf. They had a lot of tees up because some of the areas in some of the fairways it was very wet so they got us to hit it past those wet areas. That made we come in with really short irons to some of the tough par-4s. I guess you'll see quite a few scores under 70 today.
But still, I had to shoot a good one to be around for the weekend. I might still be three, four behind. Looks like I've done that going into the 3rd round, which is also fine.
Hoping for Texas winds tomorrow and you know, it's going to be a long day but I'll be up for it. I've got the whole afternoon to recover.
DOUG MILNE: Okay. With that we'll open it up for some questions.

Q. Talk about the condition of the course, five inches of rain in about 18 hours, which is strange. How did the course play in comparison to the first round?
ERNIE ELS: The greens were still quite firm, believe it or not. Obviously a little softer than my first round. I played the first round in the afternoon. Fairways were a lot softer. You don't get as much run.
But the course is just -- the drainage is unbelievable. Anywhere else in the world we would not be playing this whole weekend. You maybe play 36 holes on Monday. Really, got to give the golf course, the drainage credit and the greens staff to get the golf course in play, you know, especially the bunkers.
There's so many bunkers here, to put new sand in. I know there was a big storm last night again so they've really had to do a lot of work. You've got to give them a lot of credit. Today, the course played pretty easy as you're going to find it, I think with no wind and lot of tees up.

Q. You were talking about your swing after last week, the little tweaking you were making. Should we make the assumption that you're feeling better about where you are?
ERNIE ELS: Yeah. You know, we always do that, we always think you can get better, you know, and when I started making the changes even just before the first round at Players I felt very uncomfortable and right there even from the first round I was trying to get back to my old kind of swing thoughts and it was very uncomfortable but, as I say, I started getting it on Friday afternoon and that's why I wanted to play another tournament and I'm glad I came because this is a great facility, really good golf course. It's a little different than what we play week-in and week-out and I like that.
So my swing is feeling really a lot better. I'm hitting the ball really with a lot of authority and started making A couple of putts here and there. I'm starting to feel comfortable.

Q. After the first round you mentioned something that was kind of curious, you said this course probably came as a bit of a shock to some players. Could you expand on that?
ERNIE ELS: Well, I think some of the bunkering, you know, you got bunkers in some of the fairways here, in the greens here. You know, it's quite narrow, especially the front-9 there's a lot of narrow tee shots and then obviously the greens, you know, every green is different, you know, you feel like you're off balance a lot of the times and I think it's just a wonderful design.
It just keeps you thinking all the time. And a lot of slopes around the greens, you don't have the higher rough where it stops the ball. The ball runs away. You've got to be very accurate and very creative.
I really like it. To be honest with you, this golf course could be somewhere in Australia where I've played a lot and even in South Africa where, obviously, I'm from. I feel very, very comfortable around here.
DOUG MILNE: If you wouldn't mind running through your birdies and give us some clubs and yards, as best you recall.
ERNIE ELS: The second round?
DOUG MILNE: Yes, please.
ERNIE ELS: Started on 10. My first birdie came on No. 12. I hit a driver and 8 iron to very close. I was only about two feet away.
16 was a par 3, one with the bunker in the green. Hit 6 iron and actually went past the hole and took the slope, came all the way back to about two, three feet again. So, short putt there.
18, I hit a driver, 4 iron lay up and sand iron from about 90 yards to about three, four feet again.
No. 2, par 5, my 11th hole, hit driver in the fairway bunker, laid it up with a 5-iron, hit a sand iron from about 115 yards to about 12 feet.
And then No. 4, where they shortened the hole, hit 3-wood off the tee, sand iron to about eight feet, made that for birdie. Pretty clean card.

Q. Ernie, was there a hole today that you felt like was key for you that really got you going?
ERNIE ELS: Yeah. I think you know, on my front-9 I missed quite a few birdie opportunities. 14, the par 5 I was just short of the green, didn't get it up and down. 15 I missed a pretty short birdie putt.
But the one that kept me together was on No. 6, I missed the fairway left in the high stuff, hit a shot out of there, recovered a shot out of there, missed the green long. Didn't chip a very good shot and I made about a 15, 18 footer for par.
That was a putt that kept me together. Although I didn't birdie anything coming in, I felt I didn't want to make a bogey after my good start.

Q. As a lot of times it's the pars that save you more than the birdies.
ERNIE ELS: Well, obviously I needed to make birdies today but, yeah, in the same token, you don't want to get reckless and just go for everything. You almost have to play conservatively-aggressive (laughter).

Q. So that was because you saw the way it was playing today you needed to be conservative-aggressive to make birdies because they were out there today.
ERNIE ELS: Exactly. I mean some of the holes, like I said, you know, they shortened some of the holes so you feel like maybe I should hit driver on the hole and get me all the way to the green. If you miss the green, you're bringing double bogey in play.
I kept the ball in play off the tee most of the day. Lot of 3-woods. My driving distance on the stats will probably be outside of Top 100 but at least I felt that's the way I feel I can play this golf course is putting the ball in play and taking my irons for second shots and kind of -- it's almost like Major Championship golf. That's what I love. You don't always have to hit driver. Get it in play and take it from there.

Q. I'm sorry, I missed the first part, I was out at No. 9.
ERNIE ELS: A long way back, about two miles.

Q. You talked a little bit about your swing. What was kind of you felt was a little bit off coming in here?
ERNIE ELS: I was a bit too handsy through the hitting area at TPC and I wanted to try to release the club a little bit earlier in my swing, from the top of the back swing into the hitting area.
I feel I started flipping a bit too much with my hands and sometimes when you hit one left, you want to hang one or kind of stop on one. So I was hitting it both directions and, as a golfer, you don't want to do that.
So I just felt like I wanted to release the clubhead with my body more. So I hit into the hitting area with more with my body the way I've been doing it for the last 18 months.
That's kind of the difference. That's basically the swing difference.

Q. Do you feel like that was better today?
ERNIE ELS: Much better, especially my irons. My irons are coming out really on target. My driver, I'm still a little bit conservative but that's fine because I'm hitting a lot of 3-woods but I'm feeling a hundred percent better than I did last week.

Q. That's kind of one of the reasons you came here was to --
ERNIE ELS: Exactly. I started getting through the little pain barrier there at TPC by Friday afternoon and I started really putting some shots together and I felt one more tournament could really do it for me and although it didn't happen in the first round, I feel like it's really coming around now.
Tomorrow with 36 holes, that's also perfect for me because I can keep working on these things, looking forward to it.

Q. Can I ask you what you did yesterday during the rain yesterday, movies or --
ERNIE ELS: Yesterday? There's nothing to watch, no movies. Thank goodness I rented a house just down the road here, four of us in the house and I ate a lot, watched a lot of sports.
Actually went to the gym for an hour yesterday and just watched rainfall yesterday. You know, those days aren't too bad, either. You don't do anything. I was catching up on some business and other stuff.

Q. Maybe that helped you as much as --
ELS: Keep my mind aways from it.
DOUG MILNE: Ernie, we appreciate your time and best of luck tomorrow.

End of FastScripts

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