Posted 4/14/03 9:57 am ET

Big Easy drops the ball

Errors on back 9 prove costly

Ernie Els drops the ball on the 10th hole. Els wound up with par on the 10th, but a series of errors on No. 13 cost him three strokes and a shot at the lead. Jonathan Ernst/The Augusta Chronicle

By Larry Williams
The Augusta Chronicle

The crowd surrounding the green stood and applauded Sunday as Ernie Els walked up the 18th fairway.

Known for being jovial no matter the circumstances, Els couldn't muster a grin and wearily acknowledged the ovation with a simple doff of his cap.

Els wore the look of a deflated and beaten man - beaten by the masterful Tiger Woods, and beaten by mistakes that are seldom overcome on Masters Sundays.

"If I had just played my normal game, I probably would be at 11- or 12- under," Els said.

Golf Plus' The Big Play Alpenfels Eric Alpenfels, the director of instruction at Pinehurst Resort and Country Club in Pinehurst, N.C., and a GOLF MAGAZINE Top 100 Teacher, watched the Masters on Sunday and came away with this observation: In his interview, Ernie [Els] sounded as if he had a different game plan for No. 13 going in but once he got into the round, he tried to hit a hard hook around trees instead of hitting it straight like he planned. It seemed like he wasn't committed to his strategy. It's a good example for the recreation golfer that having a strategy and sticking with it is very important. Even if it means hitting a 3-wood tee shot and laying up on a short par-5. Or say you have a par-4 that's long and you need to hit a driver and 3-wood to reach the green, meaning you've got to hit two perfect shots. Sometimes a strategy of just keeping the ball in play, hitting three shorter straight shots to reach the green, is best. It's a lot easier to make a 12-foot par putt than a 90-yard wedge shot for par. Contact Eric Alpenfels Pinehurst Resort and Country Club Pinehurst Company Golf Institute GOLF MAGAZINE's Top 100 Teachers List For more of The Big Play, read Golf Plus in Sports Illustrated. For more instruction from our Top 100 Teachers, read GOLF MAGAZINE.

It's not certain whether either number would have been good enough to vanquish Woods, who breezed through the back nine free of anything resembling a challenge before finishing at 12-under.

But there's no doubt it would have injected some suspense into a day that lacked it. Els took himself out of contention with a wretched showing on the 13th hole and finished tied for fifth at 6-under.

"I scrambled my way around 10, 11 and 12 and made good pars," said Els, who tied for sixth last year at Augusta and finished second the year before. "It set me up for a nice charge, and I blew it on 13."

There really isn't a nicer way to put it when you begin a hole at 9-under and leave it at 6-under. After a par on the 12th, Els was three strokes behind Woods and couldn't afford a mistake if he hoped to present a serious challenge.

The unraveling began when his drive hooked into the woods left of the fairway.

"Just a crazy error," Els said. "I told myself before the week started, 'Don't go left.' I guess I don't listen to myself."

Els' next mistake was ignoring caddie Ricci Roberts, who insisted that Els play it safe with a short punch out to the fairway on his second shot.

But Els saw a small gap in the trees and thought it possible to get the ball close enough to use his wedge and set up a birdie putt.

"Ricci asked me very nicely to go out sideways," Els said, "but I saw the shot that I wanted to play."

Moments later, Els saw his slim hopes vanish when his ball disappeared into a tributary of Rae's Creek. A drop left him with almost 200 yards to the pin, and his fourth shot was short and plopped into the tributary at the front of the green.

After two-putting for triple bogey, Els took his hat off and rubbed his forehead with his left hand. His face was wrenched into an expression that summed up his anguish better than any words could.

"It just compounded the error," Els said of the second shot.

Chip Shots  Ernie Els Scorecard Ernie Els Player Page Els Historic Hole-by-Hole

Earlier, after moving to 10-under with a birdie on the eighth hole, Els appeared capable of catching Woods. His approach on the par-4 ninth headed straight toward the flag and landed a foot past the hole before rolling backward, down the slope and off the green.

Had he nailed the approach, Els would have been left with a short birdie putt, and a mere shot behind Woods at the turn.

He ended up two-putting for bogey instead.

 

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