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DEUTSCHE BANK CHAMPIONSHIPSeptember 5, 2011Ernie ElsNORTON, MASSACHUSETTS Q. I guess the first question I have to ask you is have you exhaled yet? ERNIE ELS: Barely. I'm going to get on the airplane and have a couple of beers now, so I'll probably celebrate getting into the top 70. Hopefully I am in the top 70. But it's been a hard couple of days. Q. The projection right now is that you are. It's not been a couple days, it's been three weeks now you've been going with this grind. What's that been like emotionally? ERNIE ELS: Well, it's an opportunity to either call the year an end after the PGA, but then I thought, you know, after working a lot on my game, the things that I'm working on, I need to put it in play. I need to feel it under pressure. There's no better exercise than I have been through the last three weeks to really test your nerves, your game, your putting, your chipping, the driving. So I've been really under the gun, and I think it's been good. Q. The par save at 15, you made par at 16, great par save at 17, and then 18 which you knocked in, pretty strong finish. ERNIE ELS: Well, exactly. That's not the way I intended to finish and I wanted to try and make birdies, and I was trying to get to 10-under, and that was my goal coming into the back nine. I made a birdie on 10 but I made a soft bogey on 12, and then the holes coming in played quite tough, and I missed some fairways. Quite difficult, but I'm really happy with the way that I holed out. I haven't done it all year. I got myself in trouble. You saw me out there. I got the ball up-and-down when I needed to. Starting to feel more like myself. Q. When you say this was good for you, how so? What can you build on after this stretch? ERNIE ELS: Well, I think what I've been through now, I mean, in North Carolina and Barclays and here, you know, in a way I'm trying to win the event, but also, I'm trying to hit sort of shots. If you look back, I don't think I've made a double bogey in the last three weeks. I might have had one, I don't know. But I've been really keeping it tight. That's the way I've always played. I kept my game tight. I didn't hit many loose shots, and when I did, I'd get the ball up-and-down. And that's what I've had to do the last three weeks. Even on days when I have it, I've shot some good rounds, but on days when I don't have it, I try to keep it together. I feel like my overall game is the reason why I've done that. Q. So when you're standing back there in the fairway at 18, is that more fun or more nerve wracking? ERNIE ELS: No, you're actually [expletive deleted] yourself. I've got 186 front, 210 to the hole, and you're not sure what the wind is doing. It's coming this way, that way. You need to hit it over the hazard, but you can't hit it too long. Basically the same stuff that goes through your head when you've got a one-shot lead or you're trying to win a golf tournament. I mean, I just went through probably the exact same kind of situation -- emotions. It's good to feel that, and it's good to get one up on the game for once. The game has really had its own on me this year so far, so it's nice to get something back. Q. Having those kind of emotions, do you think that helps you down the road, playing with that kind of pressure? ERNIE ELS: I think so. I think the more you put yourself in a situation to win -- I remember -- winning breeds winning. The last three weeks I've been really under the gun. I really tried to stick in there this time. As I say, the emotions and the stuff that I've been going through are very similar to trying to win a golf tournament. It's good to be on the bottom of the pile, also. I think adversity makes you stronger at the end of the day, so I'll be fine. Q. You knew where you were coming to 18? ERNIE ELS: I did. I was not going to look at a scoreboard all day, and then I just glimpsed left, and as I saw it, boom, I saw the board, and I saw 71, Els, 70, Ogilvy. So I knew I had to get it up-and-down. But I knew I was close all weekend. Q. Can you compare that to being in contention to win a tournament? ERNIE ELS: I think it's worse. You screw up on the 18th leading and now you're going to finish second and you're going to have a $600,000 check. Here I'm going home. As I said, it's a good -- it's a bad place to be, but it's a good place to come back from. Q. Were you about ten years old the last time you celebrated a T14 like you will tonight? ERNIE ELS: This is one of my best finishes all year. (Laughter.) FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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