BRITISH OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

July 19, 2002

Ernie Els

STEWART McDOUGAL: Ernie Els 66, 6 under in the championship and leading. Spectacular 29 on the first nine.

ERNIE ELS: The first nine was obviously quite amazing really. I got off to a perfect start on the 1st hole and hit a nine 4-iron. Made a good putt there and that settled me down. I felt really good about my swing on the range and I felt the way the wind was blowing, that the front nine was the nine to get it going if you were going to get it going today. I was happy the way I putted today. I kept it in play the front nine and didn't make too many mistakes.

On the back nine, I made a really good save on the 10th hole for par and the 10th hole is one of the most difficult holes, and on 11 I got too aggressive I think, and had a wedge to the green, and I flew it over the green. The wedge went about 144 yards. My blood was pumping there. After making bogey there, I knew there was a lot of more difficult holes to come and that was the case. It wasn't all that easy, the back nine, and I kind of scrambled my way through the back nine. But to start off from where I was, I was one under for the tournament and now I am 6 under leading, I guess I would have taken it before the round started.

Q. Ernie, have you ever played a better nine holes in Major Championship golf for nine?

ERNIE ELS: I was thinking about it the year I won at Oakmont, the year I won there, I shot a 30 on the front nine.

Q. So this is one better than that?

ERNIE ELS: This is almost as good.

Q. Is it right somebody told me you made eight successive putts; is that right?

ERNIE ELS: I wasn't counting. I was playing my next shot as good as I could, and I guess that's what happens when you shoot a 29. If you put it in play and get it on the greens and keep making putts, I guess that's what happens.

Q. Ernie, can you talk about the shift in your mind set knowing that you're going out there to score on the front nine, you do that and go to the back nine?

ERNIE ELS: Well, it's quite difficult, you know, you play the front nine the way I did and you feel --

If you keep that going you could shoot a 54. That in itself is a scary thought. I didn't quite play the same level on the back nine. I put it in the fairways a lot of times, and when I did miss it, I was just off and probably on the wrong side of some of the greens. Like on 13, missed it on the wrong side there, and then I missed it in the bunker on 18. That's really the only two bad shots I can think of that I played all day. I was watching the leader board and I saw I was leading. You kind of feel you just want to get through the day without making major mistakes.

Q. Were you thinking at all when you hit the par on 10 and you're eight under, let's get some separation there?

ERNIE ELS: Absolutely. I was thinking I was really swinging so well, and with the wedge on 11, I had 130 yards to the hole and I had a similar yardage on the second hole. I came up a little bit short even on the second hole and I thought well, let's get off with this one and I just flashed it, straight over the flag and then over the green also. But I was thinking that -- I was really feeling good and confident and the swing was holding up quite nicely.

Q. You made a brilliant chip on the left there.

ERNIE ELS: It was about seven feet.

Q. Was that a trickier putt than it looked?

ERNIE ELS: I think I misread that putt. I could have played that ball more to the left side. I missed it on the right side, and I could have probably made that one better. 11 was the turning point in my round.

Q. Talk about the bunker episode on 13 and how glad you were to get out of there with a four?

ERNIE ELS: That's the only place you don't want to go on 13. That was a mental error. I said to Ricky, are we going to play this right to the flag and I didn't make a very good swing there. I came over the top with a 7-iron there and actually thought it went over the bunker, but it came back in and I didn't really have much of a shot. It reminds me of the bunker at St. Andrews - which Brad Faxon couldn't get it out of the bunker - it was pretty difficult, and we both struggled there and I was happy to make four.

Q. Do you think about going outside (inaudible) --

ERNIE ELS: No, I couldn't go sideways. I was too close to the lip on the bunker. I had one shot and that was to go forward.

Q. That's the second day running you left one in the bunker. Do you worry that those two shots might prove costly?

ERNIE ELS: It could. It could cost me at the end of the day, but golf is a game where the putt on 11 could cost me the championship. There's so many instances where it could happen. The one on 7 yesterday was really pretty bad.

Q. When you were in the other day, Wednesday, Tuesday, you didn't sound like a man who was confident he was going to win this tournament or even challenge for it. What changed?

ERNIE ELS: Well, I think -- I wouldn't say I wasn't going to challenge for it. I just said I wasn't playing very well. You can put it in your own words. If you look at the way I played last week and the way I felt last week, I didn't feel very good last week. I think the work myself and David Leadbetter did the last three or four days has really changed my mindset and changed my swing around, so I feel I'm hitting the ball a lot better and more crisply, and I feel like a different player right now.

Q. What kinds of things have you and David been working on?

ERNIE ELS: Basic fundamental stuff. I was a little out of whack with my posture and my stance and ball position, and we just worked on that and it seems like it's getting better.

Q. What was there about the wind that made you think the front nine was vulnerable?

ERNIE ELS: The weather and watching the guys play in the morning on television. I saw that the ball was stopping on the greens. I saw some good lines on the greens when the guys were putting. The wind direction was a little soft little breeze into us on the 1st hole, so that was more of the prevailing breeze, and I felt there were a lot of birdie opportunities on short par 4s.

Q. How is your work with Josh going and has he played a role --

ERNIE ELS: He keeps on grinding stuff into my head. He's keeping me positive. He's got a pretty decent job to do the next couple of days. I've still got to make the putts and get the shots, but I've got a good support system.

Q. Do you need convincing you can win?

ERNIE ELS: You always need convincing.

Q. Is there a difference shooting 66 going -- (inaudible)?

ERNIE ELS: At the end of the day you put a number down and 66, it was definitely two different halves. I don't think it makes a difference.

Q. Ernie, I had to ask the Tiger-question, but it looks like he's behind. Do you relish that opportunity this week to dispel all this stuff that's been going on the last month?

ERNIE ELS: Well, I'm in a position where I'm challenging for a major championship again. I guess you guys know what my goals are in my career, what I want to do, so I've got an opportunity to achieve one of my goals and that's win a Claret jug. That's what I would like to do and obviously other players would like to win this tournament. It's going to be pretty exciting come Sunday.

Q. Ernie, would you have said you needed convincing earlier in your career or because there's been a gap between major championships, do you feel less confident that you might have felt earlier on?

ERNIE ELS: I would say coming into this tournament I wasn't feeling all that good about my game and that's probably why I said what I said earlier.

Q. As a relatively big hitter, the first two majors were set up exclusively for the big guys. How do you think that will play out come the weekend when you have so many different players hovering around the top?

ERNIE ELS: I think that's what an Open Championship is all about, you know, especially this year, this golf course is set up for a lot of different players - guys like Nick Price is going to have a hell of a chance this weekend. In the longer years, myself, Tiger, some other guys, we kind of got low down on our games a little bit and go with clubs where we feel comfortable, where we can score from. If it's hitting a 2-iron all day to the fairways, that will be it. But you just cannot hit a loose shot. It's going to cost you. Other guys who hit drivers all day and hit it straight all day, they'll do that, and if we hit 2-irons, we'll have to do that. It's a wonderful Championship this week.

Q. As a big hitter do you prefer something like the first two, or something like this?

ERNIE ELS: Something in between. I think I would have really enjoyed Bethpage if I was on my game, because I enjoy hitting a driver. I think major championships should probably be played more like that. This is not too bad either. Haven't changed this golf course at all over a hundred years. It's still a great challenge and 6 under is leading.

Q. On a similar sort of theme, you threatened to open up again, but all throughout today nobody has been able to get away. Do you think that's going to be the same right the way through to Sunday, it's going to stay very, very tight?

ERNIE ELS: It's hard to say. It depends on the weather conditions. Obviously we had good conditions today. I totally played right on my game on the front nine and all of a sudden I had a three-shot lead. But over the weekend, things might get a little bit tighter and you still just play for position, really. You don't want to shoot yourself out of it, so it's hard to get really overly aggressive. You still have to play the golf course and each hole the way it should be played. It's hard to say. If you get a hot putter going play, there's a lot of talented players. If Tiger gets really hot, he might do what I did today, who knows.

Q. Even with the player of your experience, is it now difficult to wait so long before you hit your next shot? How do you occupy your time?

ERNIE ELS: I try to occupy myself. I'm a pretty fast player so I like to get on with it. That's the beauty of golf. There's no other game like it. Between your tee shot and your second shot, it might take five minutes.

Q. I mean, before teeing off tomorrow?

ERNIE ELS: Yeah, I'm staying right on the golf course. I'm not driving anywhere. I'll stay up late tonight, the sun goes down about 11:00, stay up a long time and sleep late tomorrow morning.

Q. As a follow-up to that, what does it do for your frame of mind finishing up the way you did on that third shot on 18?

ERNIE ELS: It was a big shot. I made a mistake on 18 hitting my tee shot into the bunker on the right side. I did not want to bogey the last hole. I really wanted to par the last hole, so I hit a nice third shot in there and I made a nice putt up the hill, just to kind of keep my nose in front. The lead right now doesn't mean much. It's nice to be going out in the last group tomorrow.

Q. How many times did you hit the driver today as compared to Thursday?

ERNIE ELS: I would say today I think I hit it less than the other day. I probably only hit it three or four times today and I probably hit it about five times the other day.

Q. Where?

ERNIE ELS: On the 5th hole and the 10th hole and 17 today. I can't remember the other one.

STEWART McDOUGAL: Ernie, thank you.

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