Els is the player-ambassador for the 105th South African Open starting at Glendower Golf Club on Thursday, and hoped he could get his year off to a good start in the tournament he has won five times.
“It can’t get much worse than last year. I’ve had a 26-year career, I’ve had a couple years that didn’t go too well and last year was one of them. To play the SA Open is always quite a treat. Now that I’m getting on, I can change my schedule a bit to make sure I’ll be playing this event. And being ambassador for this event is just a thrill,” said Els on Tuesday.
The Big Easy, a four-time Major champion now ranked 191st in the world, would be hoping to rekindle the form in the big four events of his earlier years.
“The past is past and now I’m looking forward. I’ve got a nice schedule, quite similar to previous years. I love the Major venues this year. With Oakmont, when I won my first Major at the US Open in ’94. Then Troon where I lost in a playoff there. Then Baltusrol where I finished seventh in the US Open in ’93 that gave me all the exemptions I needed to get my card. There’s a lot of nice events coming up, and I’d love to get myself back into the top 50 again hopefully by the end of the year.”
Els also confirmed world-number three Rory Mcilroy of Northern Ireland would play in the SA Open in the 2017 staging of the event.
“I gave him a bit of time. When you play that level, and especially this year with the Olympics the schedule is so condensed. There are so many events the guys have to be ready for. From the US Open right through to the PGA to the Fedex, and he’s in that Olympic team. So I thought I’d leave him this year but definitely next year we’ll get him down here. Maybe put him up in Cape Town and have a good New Year and get him to come and play here. I gave him two years to do his thing, he’s such a great friend of ours. We might not even stop with him, I’m looking at some other great players too. So it’s coming.”
The last time a South African won the national open was in 2011 when Hennie Otto triumphed at Serengeti Golf and Wildlife Estate. Since then Swede Henrik Stenson, Dane Morten Orum Madsen and Englishman Andy Sullivan have taken top honours. Els said he fancied the chances of the local contingent this year to break their drought in the event.
“We prided ourselves on winning our national open. But the last few years the foreigners have come and taken our trophy. Charl [Schwartzel] came so close last year, with Andy [Sullivan] hitting that unbelievable shot out of the trees. Madsen, Stenson and Richie Ramsay have really started taking over here. The guys want to reclaim our trophy. Trevor [Immelman] is back this week, Hennie, Branden Grace who hasn’t won it – I know how desperately he wants to win it. George Coetzee and a lot of the other young players. I think we have a really great field of young South Africans.”
Source – African News Agency (ANA)
