Over the years of prognosticating who will win events, I always look for guys in form as one of my criteria and I am happy to put one of my all time favs Ernie Els in that category this week at the Farmers Insurance on the 2 courses at Torrey Pines.
Ernie narrowly lost the Volvo Champions on the links at Fancourt last weekend in that 3 man playoff with the Goose and and an Ernie Els protege Branden Grace, who has won back to back events and is red hot coming into Abu Dhabi this week.
Ernie has the new comfy shoes that Freddie Couples and others are now wearing from Callaway called the Callaway Del Mar' and he is swinging as beautifully as ever, and even making a few putts with his belly putter and has had success at Torre Pines before. He really needs a few top 10's to get into Augusta and he addresses that issue in his weekly diary along with lavish praise for Brendan Grace.. Here is an excerpt..
Having had a few hours to reflect on that final round, where I shot a best-of-the-day, six-under par 67, obviously I have to be happy with my challenge. I made six birdies and an eagle and, as I said in the introduction to this story, if I could have made just a couple of putts coming down the stretch it would have been a very special day, but I feel satisfied. This was a very encouraging day, and a very encouraging week for me. I shot all four rounds under par, which is how I would have wanted to start the season. I feel like I'm working on some good stuff and that my game is in nice shape. Now I need to build on this and keep the momentum going.
Anyway, as disappointed as I was to lose the playoff, I have to say also that I'm very pleased for Branden Grace. He was a member of the Ernie Els & Fancourt Foundation as, of course, was Louis Oosthuizen. It's a thrill for me to see these young guys doing so well, knowing that we helped start them down the road to where they are now.
Obviously it is a great start to the year for the Foundation. First Louis won the Africa Open and now Branden has won the Joburg Open and the Volvo Champions. Between them they've won the first three tournaments of the year! I couldn't ask for more. One of the focuses at the Foundation is to produce champions and it gives me so much pleasure to see them doing well. Louis and Branden can be very proud of themselves. I couldn't be more proud of them. The other thing is, these performances will definitely motivate our current members to work hard and dream big.
Okay, so on to this week and I'll leave South Africa tomorrow to start my PGA Tour campaign at the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines in California. I have lots of good memories from this place, going all the way back to my 1984 World Junior Championships win when I was just 14-years old, but I'm looking forward here, not back. I need to play well, get some more good results and make sure that my world ranking goes in the right direction and fast.
A lot of people are reminding me that, at the moment, I'm not qualified for the Masters. Obviously I know the situation. After the Volvo I'm just inside the top-60 and I need to be inside the top-50. It's in my own hands, but I know my work ethic and determination to succeed are as strong as ever. I know I still have the game to tee it up in the majors and win majors. That's what drives me as much as it ever did.
Tee times/pairings click http://www.pgatour.com/tournaments/r004/tee-times.html
3 Cancks are in the field. Stephen Ames T46 at the Sony then T22 at the Humana Challenge last week, David Hearn had T10 at the Sony then was cut after 3 rounds at Humana, Graham DeLaet was T29 at the Sony in his only outing so far.
Bubba Watson beat Phil Mickelson by a shot last year when Mickelson, needing eagle to tie on the par 5 72nd, laid up, and tried to make the eagle with a 70 yard wedge and had his caddy tend the flag. He came up 4' short..
Bryan Angus also on twitter@mummmbles
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