Using a special shot called the lowie, Ernie Els had a career round during the hellacious day when many players were blown out of the Open

Courtesy of ABC

By Carl Lohren
One of Golf Magazine's Top 100 Teachers

Ernie Els's one-over 72 at Muirfield last Saturday was his worst score of the week by two strokes, but the round was perhaps the best of his career. In the end Els won the claret jug because he thrived on a day when many of the world's best players, including Tiger Woods, couldn't break 80 in the freezing rain and 30-mph wind that blitzed Muirfield.

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THE BIG LOWIE To understand Els's extraordinary ability to flourish in nasty weather, you have to think of his swing as a powerful car, with Ernie sitting contentedly behind the wheel. Even in the wind and rain he has power in reserve, allowing him to execute a conservative play called the lowie, a three-quarter swing that produces a low, penetrating ball flight, the perfect trajectory for cheating the weather. So while most guys were vainly searching for their swing on Saturday, Els calmly relied on his lowie, including a seven-iron approach to the first green (above) that set the tone for his crucial round.

BUNKER BASICS Els is perhaps the best bunker player in golf, but the two impossible-looking shots he stiffed on Sunday--at 13 in regulation and at 18 on the last hole of the playoff--were actually pretty easy for such a seasoned player. At 13 Els's ball was in a furrow on an upslope, which forced him to swing extra hard, causing the ball to rise quickly and clear the steep bunker wall. His stance at 18, with his right leg bent backward at the knee and his right foot propped on the bunker's back lip, positioned his body perfectly for the steep descending blow that he needed to execute the shot. "I just had to keep my balance," Els said.

THREE'S NOT A CHARM Woods's sometimes ordinary iron game was exposed last week, as he eschewed driver off most tees, which forced him to play approaches into greens from the same distances as the rest of the field. That reduced Woods from invincible to very good, because a lot of other Tour players hit their approach irons as precisely as he does. For proof, look at the Tour's par-3 birdie leaders. Woods ranks a lowly 121st.

OLD NEWS I'm tired of the whining that course setups at the majors have become unfair. Major championship venues have always been unfair, because the primary goal is to challenge the players' patience. I know from experience. At the '83 U.S. Open at Oakmont, I cozied a downhill putt at number 2 toward the hole, but instead of dying near the cup, the ball kept going until it scooted down to the front of the green and came to rest 40 yards from where it had started. Now that's unfair.

Carl Lohren, 64, teaches at Ballen Isle Country Club in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., and one of Golf Magazine's Top 100 teachers.

Issue date: July 29, 2002