Sport

My biggest single goal is to win a career Grand Slam: Ernie Els

— Photo: Sandeep Saxena

Star attraction: Ernie Els, who is considered the favourite, will be keen to make his trip a memorable one.

NEW DELHI: Nicknamed ‘Big Easy’ for his big-made frame, yet being able to swing a golf club effortlessly for maximum power, World No. 4 Ernie Els is the ‘Big Fish’ of the Emaar MGF Indian Open golf this week.

Winner of the US Open in 2000 and 2004 and the British Open in 2002, Els has played golf all over the world since turning pro 16 years ago and today, he clear about his priorities like never before.

“To be honest, I think there were maybe times when I’ve tried to please too many people. Not now. I am 38 and I need to think about me and how I can give myself the best chance to add to the three majors that I’ve already won.

The biggest single goal that I have left in this game is to win the career Grand Slam to win all four majors at least once before I’m done. It’s important I do everything in my power to make that goal achievable.”

Eloquent and elegant, Els rues not winning in Dubai last week but sounds determined to sign off as a winner in his first tournament-appearance in India. “Last week was my first event after a long break but still not winning there when I felt I should have won was tough to take.

But it was the first event of the year I can’t kill myself over it. Losing to World No. 1 (Tiger Woods) is no disgrace but it doesn’t make it better.”

At the Delhi Golf Club course, Els surprisingly found himself in familiar surroundings. “This course, for some reason, reminds me a little of South Africa. The vegetation and some of the trees are very similar to what we have in South Africa.

The lay-out is very old style and design which I really like. You never play two holes which are similar and you never see any other holes out there when you are playing which I like, too. The greens are very well designed, too, and it is well bunkered.”

Looking ahead to the weekend, Els said, “Conditions are perfect for golf here, a good temperature and not too much breeze, not too cold, so we should have good scoring.”

When asked to compare golf in China and in India, Ernie said India needed more infra-structure for the game. “They have a couple of more tournaments in China and a lot more golf courses but India is right on the heels and growing at a very rapid pace.

I feel that the Indian golfers at the moment are at a better level than the Chinese players. If you look at Jeev and Jyoti, Shiv doing well and Arjun playing on the US Tour, they have all broken through.

“You do play a lot of ball sports here like hockey, cricket and tennis. So the ball sense is there for the youngsters so for them to pick up golf, it might be easier than it is for the youngsters in China.”

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