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ABERDEEN ASSET MANAGEMENT SCOTTISH OPENJuly 11, 2012Ernie ElsINVERNESS, SCOTLAND MICHAEL GIBBONS: Ernie, thanks, as always for coming in and joining us. Welcome back. Give us your thoughts on the week looking ahead to the Scottish Open here at Castle Stuart. ERNIE ELS: I've gotta play a bit of golf. I haven't played since the U.S. Open. I've been down in London for the last couple of weeks, and the weather hasn't been too great down there either. I came up yesterday, rainy, so it's going to be rainy all week. And I think even next week is going to be. So I need to just put a score on a card basically. That's why I came up here and try and get some rust off the game. Hopefully things will go okay and I can have a good tournament. But it's really to come in and enjoy Castle Stuart. I really liked it last year. And the family is up at Skibo, staying there for the week. So it's really a nice week up here in Scotland. So looking forward to it. MICHAEL GIBBONS: Three rounds under 70 last year may suggest you have the game for here. Did you enjoy the course last year? ERNIE ELS: Yeah. Scoring was unbelievable last year. There wasn't a lot of breeze, and obviously we had that weather delay. I was on the good side of the draw, so I didn't have to spend ‑‑ I think the Saturday or whatever at the golf course like most of the guys. But scoring conditions were quite good last year and the guys took advantage, so we will see what it's like. I think the course is probably soft again this year, so we'll see what the wind does. MICHAEL GIBBONS: Two Scottish Open titles on your CV already. Are you keen to add number three, I presume? ERNIE ELS: Well, absolutely, you know. But as I say, I'm a little rusty, and although I've played quite a bit of golf at Wentworth and at Queenwood the last couple of weeks when we were down there in London, but we'll see where the sharpness is. Obviously playing tournament golf is a different level of sharpness you gotta be at, and hopefully I can be there, you know. I'm going to play the pro am this afternoon and I've been practicing it. But looking forward to a good week. MICHAEL GIBBONS: Thanks as always. We'll take some questions. Q. Ernie, you say your sharpness isn't right for this week, but do you think the schedule generally is good playing the week before the Open will set up for Lytham? Do you fancy your chances for that? ERNIE ELS: Yeah. I'm not necessarily writing myself off this week. It could be all there Thursday, but preparation for the U.S. Open I was really sharp going into that event, and I've had my mid‑year break because we've got a hell of a schedule coming up. I've got I think eight of the next nine weeks of golf, playing the FedExCup in the U. S. and the next major and so forth. So I needed a mid‑year break. You know, I've always ‑‑ well, I wouldn't say always, but I think most of the years I've played the Open I've played the Scottish Open, especially at Loch Lomond which is another favorite place of mine. So I've done well in some of them and not so well in some of them. So obviously if you play well here this week, it sets you up for a really great Open championship. If you don't, you know what you gotta work on. Q. What's the dominant motivation? Is it satisfaction or preservation? ERNIE ELS: A little bit of disappointment. I felt I was right in there before the shot, and the putt on 15 was quite a long putt, but had a really good chance of going in. And then that 16th hole really cost me the tournament, I think. I played it I think 5‑under par for the week. I think I made an eight on the first day and I bogeyed it on Sunday. Also my third shot left there, which you can't do. A bit of a disappointing finish, but I felt a lot of good vibes, you know, playing under pressure again and in a major situation I felt quite comfortable, so quite a lot of positives out of it, too. Q. You got your putting dismantled by your friend Mr.Feherty during the season. What do you think about that now? ERNIE ELS: Well, yeah, I think it was a Monday morning afterwards, you know. And I don't think that was the best time for that. You know, I've known David most of my life really, and he's become quite a good commentator now, and you know, I felt knowing the guy that long, you know, to make those comments that morning wasn't quite the right time, I felt like. But we've cleared the air, so we're okay. Q. You've talked to him about it since? ERNIE ELS: Yeah. We're okay. Yeah. Q. (Indiscernible). Last month or so. Practice round. What did you think? ERNIE ELS: I have not. I had all the time in the world to do it this time. I've been down in London for as I say, almost a month now and the weather has just been. I was going to go up ‑‑ Ricci actually went up last week, Thursday, I think it was. He had a break of a bit of sun and he went out there and had a look, but I didn't go up. So I'm flying down. We go down Sunday evening, so I'll do a proper practice routine, it'll be Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. And I played it in '96 and '01, so it'll be nice to do some proper work down there. Q. What's your main memory of '01? ERNIE ELS: Yeah, '96 I was close. I kind of stumbled in. 16, I bogeyed that, I remember. And bogeyed 18. And I think I lost by two or three to Tom Lehman. And in '01 we all bunched. I finished third with I think ten guys, you know. A lot of guys were trying to catch Duval, but I think we were all like three, four, five behind him. But I've had some good events there. Q. And the memories of when (indiscernible)? ERNIE ELS: Yeah. We actually talked about it the other day. Actually yesterday with Ricci, and it's been unbelievable, ten years now. And yeah, it's been a while. I've had chances ‑‑ not recently too many, but you know, four comes to mind. '06, '07. So I've had a couple of outside opportunities. But I always enjoy the Open, and I love the next couple of years. It goes to Lytham, goes to Muirfield next year and then obviously St. Andrews, so some really nice venues coming up, so something to look forward to. Q. (Indiscernible)? ERNIE ELS: You have to be careful around there. It's well bunkered. As well bunkered as anything I've played. You know, depending on weather conditions, depending on the wind direction, you can attack some of them if you have downwind opportunities getting it close to the greens, but for the most part you have to keep it out of those fairway bunkers and that means a lot of times you can hit irons or 3‑woods off the tees, getting in position, and then it's a great second‑shot golf course. If your iron play is good, get it on the putting surface, the putting surfaces are quite flat, so there's some birdie opportunities. But it's one of those courses where you either gotta take it on or play conservatively off the tee and take your chances. Q. (Indiscernible) how much work are you doing with him? ERNIE ELS: Yeah. I've worked with (indiscernible) actually coming up to this week and been working with her since the start of the year. I had had an opportunity to work with her quite a few years ago, but I was putting too well. So didn't need her at that stage. But she's great. She's come up with a new donation, and you know, it's just getting your eyes to focus better, and basically that's what we're working on. And she's been a real positive influence on my short game. Q. Can you just talk about the emotions you felt being back in contention again at a major at the U.S. Open? Did you doubt you could get back there again? ERNIE ELS: Yeah, there was times I doubted it, but I was really hitting calm. I really felt like my old self, you know, in that situation. I was calm, and I had Ricci on the bG, which is great. And it felt like old times almost. You know, I did stumble coming in a bit on 16 and obviously 18. But for the most part I felt very in control and calm, and you know, I just let my game do the work like I used to. So that's the positive I'm talking about earlier that I took out of it was that I really felt mentally and physically very at ease for once, which I haven't felt like in months. So that's a big positive, and I think a lot of things goes to the tee now. I've got Ricci back, and as I said, Cheryl and so forth. So I feel like things are maybe moving in the right direction for once. Q. (Indiscernible) last year inclimate weather gave you an opportunity. Is it more than just the golf that attracts you to this golf course? Is there something about coming here that you really enjoy? ERNIE ELS: Yeah. Especially at Skibo, they have everything, and it's a very kids‑friendly place, and I took my family up and they have an unbelievable time. That's also one of the reasons why I came up again. Even if the weather is not so great, we can do other things. And that's one of the neat things about coming up this far north, you know. We used to play down at Loch Lomond, but coming up here is even more pretty than down there. So it's a great spot up here, and this new golf course is also great. So all in all it's very positive. Q. (Indiscernible) you talk about the big four in golf. First‑time major winners. How many potential winners ‑‑ could we have like 25 guys in contention next week, 50 guys? What does it look like? ERNIE ELS: Yeah. You still have to look at some of the old guys, and then you gotta look at the youngsters. I mean there's so many of them now. I mean almost every week there's a new face that comes through, especially on the U. S. tour. I mean I watched a bit of golf on Sunday night, and I watched some guys that I haven't really seen a lot of, and they're playing good golf. So a lot of these young guys can win. I think Rickie Fowler, he showed last year that he can play in tough conditions, and he has the mental ability to adapt to different conditions like over here. And he's got a great ball flight. So there's a lot of guys that can do it. I mean look at Louis, look at Dustin Johnson. I mean these are regs now I'm talking about, but they are new comers and some other guys. So it's a very, very open ball game now, unlike, as you say, nine, ten years ago where it was kind of more the regs that you could expect. Q. If there was a real surprise or dark horse for next week, who would it be? ERNIE ELS: I think Darren Clarke. Yeah. He's ‑‑ you know, I mean that's one place where he's comfortable. I know he's struggling with his game. I know he's not that far off. He's got that great ball flight, and if he gets that same talk he had last year ‑‑ I think it was from Bob Rotella ‑‑ who knows. That could just swing things. He could be a dark horse. Q. So you're saying oughta bet on him? ERNIE ELS: No. I'm not a real betting man (laughs). Q. Ernie, you got your major very quickly. Can you put yourself in a position of somebody like Lee and Luke who have been trying and trying and trying. ERNIE ELS: Yeah. Especially Lee Westwood. He's really paid his dues. If there's one man that deserves one, it's him. Reminds me a lot of Colin Montgomerie, you know, one of the best players probably will go into the golf world Hall of Fame. Collin is not win a major, and you know, I wouldn't say he's running out of time. He's as strong as an ox and he's working out and he's doing all the right things and he's been doing that for quite some time. But it just hasn't fallen his way for some other reasons. And maybe it happens. It could be his week. You know, it's a ball striker's dream, Lytham. And he's a ball striker. So it could happen, and the same as Luke. Luke is No. 1 in the world and best short game in the world, and when he's on his game, he's one of the best drivers of the ball. So it's all there. It's just a matter of a bit of luck falling your way and making the right putts and getting the right breaks. That's about it. Q. There was an expectation up in Muirfield (indiscernible). ERNIE ELS: Yeah. I mean we were just talking about Lee and Luke, you know, and for the last ten years I guess I've been kind of in the same boat, you know. I did lose my game a little bit obviously last year, and I had the knee operation in '05 where I missed most of the year. So I had a couple issues, but for the most part, yeah, '03, '04, I felt like one of the best players in the world. I had a lot of confidence and I had quite a few opportunities. I think I was in almost all four of them. And you know, so I had my fair share of hard luck, but you know, so it goes. Some guys don't ever win. It's just great to see, I won mine early and kind of got it out of the way, but I could have won a few more. Didn't quite happen. Q. (Indiscernible). Winning that first Open being a bit of a mental hurdle for you. Has the mental hurdle returned or are you kind of relaxed about it? ERNIE ELS: No. Obviously it has. You know, the game is such where you're not going to have a clean setting all the time. You're going to have your ups‑and‑downs, and I've had my fair share of that. And whether it's physical or the mental part, and that's part of the game. You play this game long enough, you're going to have some issues. That's just part of the game, and I've been around now for I think 23 years as a professional, so you play this game long enough, just about everything will happen to you. And I think I've been through the ringer and coming out the other side and still going at it. So I'm enjoying it, and I'm enjoying the challenge of it, and I've looked back at things long enough now where I want to look forward now and see what I can experience. Q. In your return to contention, Ernie, what is the most difficult to deal with? The physical or the mental? ERNIE ELS: I think it's ‑‑ well, I'm 43 this year, so it's becoming physical a little bit here and there. I'm starting to feel a couple of aches and pains here. I think just to get yourself mentally ready in all parts of your game. And as I said, you know, after the putting is coming back and short game's coming back, and the most part of my game is there. So it's really just getting yourself ready and fighting. Q. (Indiscernible) you seem to be weighted down, understandably, by what was happening off the course. ERNIE ELS: Yeah, it's quite a few things, yeah. Myself and my wife and family, we had ‑‑ we had our hands on a lot of things, our fingers on a lot of stuff, and yeah, you try and give it your best effort, obviously. And I think a lot of that stuff, as you say, is coming through now and getting to where we know what's going on. And it's not such a huge distraction maybe. Q. (Indiscernible). ERNIE ELS: We're almost there. We're just getting land now. We've signed land and we'll probably start next year. So all of that stuff is quite nice, and it's exciting now, you know. Kind of the hard part is almost over now. Q. (Indiscernible)? ERNIE ELS: Yeah. We've gone past nine million. So we're almost there. I'm trying to get out of here. They won't let me go. Q. (Indiscernible)? ERNIE ELS: No. We need a bit more, but I mean nine is enough to start the first phase, yeah. MICHAEL GIBBONS: All right, ladies and gentlemen. Thanks to Ernie. ERNIE ELS: Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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