This year’s PLAYERS Championship was another high birdie-count week for me, notching up 18 in total. And on TPC Sawgrass’ Stadium Course that is a more-than-decent return.
However, as in the past few months, there were four or five holes over the course of the four rounds where I was heavily punished. This course can do that to you. In fact, I was talking to Tiger about it earlier in the week; you can be going along fine here and then out of nowhere you can make a double. Still, overall there’s a lot of good about my game right now.
I must also say I was really pleased for Rickie Fowler. This was the biggest win of his career and what a way to do it, 6-under par for the last six holes of regulation play. I was watching the last two hours of coverage and he really didn’t miss a shot, which is impressive. It was a pretty incredible finish on this golf course and actually, this year’s PLAYERS – including its new playoff format – delivered one of the best PGA TOUR finishes that we’ve seen in a while and the initial TV ratings reflect that. Rickie’s a great kid and an incredible talent. You’d have to predict more big wins for him in the future.
Over on the other side of the world, congrats also to my good friend George Coetzee on his second win of the season, this time at the Afrasia Bank Mauritius Open, the first ever tri-sanctioned event by the Asian, European and Sunshine Tours. George and I have played a lot of golf together, a lot of practice rounds, and he’s another young player with a bright future in the game.
Three Tours joining forces for one tournament is a significant milestone for professional golf and one that can only benefit everyone, not least the players. It’s a wonderful platform not just for the more established players such as George but also for other young tour pros wanting to make their mark on the international stage. Hats off to everyone involved. It was good to hear the players full of praise for this tournament and for the island of Mauritius, which I can relate to. It really is a stunning island, a place that everyone at Ernie Els Design has great fondness for. It was the location for one of our earliest design projects, a spectacular oceanfront layout called Anahita, which has hosted the Mauritius Open several times since it opened in 2008.
Anyway, moving on. As I was saying in my previous report, this week marks the start of this year’s Els for Autism Golf Challenge, with events at Trump National Doral in Florida and Morgan Creek in Vancouver. I know everyone who was lucky enough to have secured a spot in those two events had a wonderful day. The good news is there are another 20-plus events, some of them on PGA TOUR and Major Championship courses, remaining on the schedule. Why not get together with friends and enter a team? All the information you need is one click away!
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