BRITISH OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

July 21, 2002

Ernie Els

STEWART McDOUGAL: Ernie Els, ladies and gentlemen, The 2002 Open Champion. How does it feel now?

ERNIE ELS: It feels unbelievable, really. I obviously, as you can see my expression, it hasn't sunk in yet. I'm still a little bit in shock. It was a very tough day, but how do I feel? I'm kind of -- in a couple of hours I will be out of my skin, probably. It's just been an unbelievable four days. Four days and five holes. I really -- most of the time I played really well. I really hung in there well mentally, physically. My game stood up well most of the time. I say most of the time. But I just grinded it out, I guess. I didn't come here with a lot of confidence. I'm going to leave here as the Open Champion. It's been a little journey for me this week.

Q. Did you feel you lost it at 16?

ERNIE ELS: Yes. Yes, I was struggling with that shot for a while now, the one that goes left, with the flag on the left. Last week at the Scottish Open, I barely made the cut because of that shot. It's a shot that I'm normally good with because I like to draw my irons, but I just tried to hit that 7-iron too hard. I was aiming it at the middle of the green. I was trying to play the shot I played in the playoff and I just hit it in the center of the green, and I flicked it left and I had a similar chip shot on the 4th hole in regulation play. This time I went with a different approach. I went with a 60-degree sand iron and I wanted to just bump it into the hill short of the fringe and I hit it actually a little bit thin. A couple of inches short it would have hit the bank and just popped up, but I hit it a bit thin and it went all the way down. After that I was really almost gone.

Q. Was it hard to keep yourself together even in the playoff?

ERNIE ELS: Yes. It took me about -- after signing my card, after the 72nd, thank goodness I had some time because I could compose myself a little bit for the playoff. I spoke to my wife. I spoke to Josh, and I was really nowhere. I got it back. I hit a beautiful drive down the first playoff hole and I played it actually quite well, except for the pitch shot into 17, which I totally missed again. But other than that, the four playoff holes, I was composed.

Q. Even though you messed up the 16th, you birdied 17 right away, even though you thought you were gone?

ERNIE ELS: Yes, for some reason I've been feeling good with my driver. I got on to 17 and Ricky tried to calm me down. He said put the best you can on this driver. I had to do that, obviously. If I missed the drive, I wouldn't be sitting here. I hit a perfect driver. I had 222 to the front and about 240 something to the hole and I just hit a most beautiful 3-iron in there. I was pin-high, about 18, 20 feet and I actually misread the putt. I thought it was going to go to the right and it actually went the other way.

Q. Were you surprised the playoff was a twoball and you were in the second two?

ERNIE ELS: Yes, there was another good break, I think. I got to eat a sandwich, got some food in my system. I watched the other guys tee off, obviously. I started to feel a little better and better as time went on as I was standing on the tee there and I hit a beautiful tee shot.

Q. It was a surprise they did that to you?

ERNIE ELS: The two-balls, yes, but I think that's a good thing, too, otherwise it would have taken so long. A four-hole-stroke-playoff for four holes and you don't have to play it as a four-ball.

Q. The bunker shot on 13 in regulation and the one on 18 in the playoff, they both looked incredibly difficult.

ERNIE ELS: The one on 13 was more difficult. On 18 I had more room to work the ball. I just had to keep my balance there. I had to keep my balance on the left side. And I could almost hit it a little heavy and the ball would still release, but the one on 13 I was still amazed I got it out there and almost holed it.

Q. Did you even think about taking an unplayable or would you have had the same result -- (inaudible) --

ERNIE ELS: No, I've been in the road bunker at St. Andrews and it reminded me a lot of the road bunker. I felt I had a shot at it to get it out. I was in the same bunker on the second day. I didn't have any stance there and I left it in the bunker on that day. Obviously I had my practice for that shot, you know what I mean, but I had a stance in the bunker, and all I had to do was hit it as well as I could.

Q. During the week, before the playoff, what was the inner monologue in your head. What were people telling you? What were some of the conversations? How did you get yourself back?

ERNIE ELS: Well, when I signed my card. The last couple of years, I haven't been good in playoffs. I've been pretty well beat in playoffs for quite some time. I did not have a good feeling. I really tried my best on the 72nd hole to try to birdie it, because I just felt I wasn't good in playoffs. And when I left that putt short and I signed my card, I was really pretty much down in the dumps, really. I sat there for a while. Ricky didn't want to say anything. He probably was scared of what my reaction would have been. I just sat there. I had an orange juice and I walked out of the scorer's hut, I saw Leizl and I saw Josh and, you know, he tried to get me upbeat and get me going again. So he was doing his job. But I felt a little better after a little conversation.

Q. Anything specific in the conversation that you can recall, words?

ERNIE ELS: Well, he just basically agreed that I had four more holes to play and those four holes were the most important holes of my career and I was going to give it 100 percent on each and every shot. And we basically agreed on that.

Q. We can probably understand how you pulled yourself together when you had time. How did you pull yourself together between the 16th hole when you made 5 and 17 when you made birdie?

ERNIE ELS: Obviously, walking off the 16th green was the lowest point of my entire week, obviously. If you make par on 16, it's a 7-iron in there, to be honest with you. In normal conditions, at worse, I'll make 3. I made 5 there. And then you make an easy Par 5 into a really hard Par 5 because of my mess-up on 16. All of a sudden 17 is the most crucial hole of the tournament, and in actual fact, every shot I'm going to hit for the next rest of the way was going to be a crucial shot. I was under a lot of pressure there. I never felt anything like that. I just stuck with my game and hit a really good driver. And walking off the 17th green after making four I was still down. I felt now I'm going to make another birdie to win, so I was fighting and -- my chin wasn't up, I'll say.

Q. Several years ago when you were in your U.S. Opens Curtis Strange said I think we've seen a new golfing God. (Inaudible) in the interview room here, do you think you've arrived?

ERNIE ELS: I still have my moments. (Laughter). I still sometimes play like a man that's got a lot of talent and can play the game, and then I can turn around and play really poorly also. I look back right now. If I played poorly from now on in, I've had a good career, but I've still got a bit of work left. But as I say I've got a little Jekyl & Hyde to me when it comes to my golfing.

Q. In the Jekyl & Hyde part, did you allow yourself to think on your dark thoughts on 16 and 17 what it would do if you didn't win the tournament?

ERNIE ELS: Walking off 16, a lot of things went through my mind. I was like is this a way to lose another major; is this the way you want to be remembered by, screwing up in an Open Championship. A lot of things went through my mind. I'm pretty hard on myself as it is, and that wasn't one of my finer moments, obviously. Suddenly I pulled it back. Somehow I pulled myself together and made some good shots again. I guess I've got a little bit of fight in me when it counts. But, yeah, it would have been a very hard loss type of fight if I didn't win this jug.

Q. You've partly answered the question. You said on television you thought if you didn't do it this time you would never do that. Can you express that more thoroughly what you meant?

ERNIE ELS: I guess you can only take that much. Some careers could have ended like this, but, you know, if you look at some of the Masters, some of the guys that lost the Masters, this tournament, people have lost here before and some people just never recover. I wouldn't say I would have been one of them if I didn't win yet today, but I would have really been a different person after this maybe, but now in a better and good way, I'm a different person again, you know, saying it that way. Now I'm back on track. I can now legitimately try and win the majors, four majors.

Q. You're three ahead of the field with six to go and then you make that sand save on 13. Conversely, did you feel at that point that it was your tournament to win?

ERNIE ELS: Yes. I did feel that way. There was no wind to talk about if I didn't want to. If I didn't want to I didn't have to hit a driver. That left shot was just killing me. The shot on 14 off the tee I was going with a 2-iron and after I hit the 2-iron, you know, I discussed it with Ricky and we decided we should have gone with a 3-iron and put it in play. The flag was back anyway. I was going to go in with a long iron anyway. It was a mistake. It was just easier coming in, you know, you can make one mistake and still win this thing, but after making a mental error on 14 I knew I had a lot of hard work left.

Q. (Inaudible)

ERNIE ELS: Ever since I've been playing the game - and that's been since I was eight years old - I can tell you it went back to the late '60s, even early '60s. Don't ask me now (laughter). I know that Gary Player won here in '59 I saw Nicklaus win here back in the '62, was it?

Q. '66.

ERNIE ELS: And I was here in '92, I played four rounds as a 22-year-old. I've had a dream of winning this jug for a long long time.

Q. When you won in March, you talked about the little guy on your shoulder whispering negative thoughts in your ear. Was he out there streaming in your backswing again?

ERNIE ELS: I got rid of him. I guess I'll never get rid of him. But it's getting better. I mean, this week I had a chance a couple of times to break away and the little guy just kept on sitting on my shoulder. Every time I wanted to do that I made a mistake. Even in the last play playoff hole, I just got him back again. So it was difficult. But I'm proud of myself getting this one.

Q. What was the little guy saying to you when you saw your ball in the bunker on 13 and what were your goals stepping into the bunker --

ERNIE ELS: Well, first of all, it was my own fault hitting it in there. I was in between two clubs there and I went with a 7, same swing I put on 13, I putt on 16. They both went left. 13, it went in there and I said to Ricky, I'm going to hit this as hard as I can.

Q. 60 degree?

ERNIE ELS: Yes, out of the bunker on 13. Obviously, as I said before, I had a stance in the bunker and the shot came out perfect.

Q. You stopped the slam. How's does that sound to you, and do you consider yourself as somebody who stopped the slam?

ERNIE ELS: I guess so. I think the weather stopped the slam, too. It definitely stopped Tiger in his tracks yesterday. It stopped a lot of people in their tracks yesterday. I guess after prevailing yesterday evening, it gave me the chance and opportunity to sit yesterday. I had a lot of patience yesterday and to be honest, I guess I had a lot of patience today. To almost be a clear winner and almost be a clear loser in the space of three or four holes, I had patience and I guess I had staying power this time. But, yeah, it's a great feeling. Tiger is probably going to have another opportunity to do it. He's the only player that probably can do it. I've had a pretty good record in majors myself.

STEWART McDOUGAL: Thank you very much.

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