Words matter. These are the best Ernie Els Quotes, and they’re great for sharing with your friends.
For a 7-iron, you never want the ball to be closer to your left heel than just slightly ahead of the mid-point of your stance. That’s especially true if you’re a tall player, like me.
I’m sure you have a hole at your course where you love to hit the tee shot. You can’t wait to get up there and bomb away because the fairway is wide, or the hole always plays downwind.
When I’m swinging the club at my best, it’s because I’m not thinking about mechanics at all. I feel like my body is loose. My arms are soft in front of me when I’m setting up, and my chest and shoulders feel as if they can move and turn easily.
When you get to the tee on a really long par 5, I know what you’re feeling. You want to let the shaft out on the driver and try to bomb it down there. I get the same feeling. But a big tee shot is not always the best strategy, especially on a long hole.
For the average player, most three-putts happen because of a poorly judged first putt from long range.
Playing from deep grass is a fact of life in professional golf.
Make a conscious effort to loosen your hands and let your arms feel soft when you’re at address. Take the club back a bit shorter, and feel as if you’re cracking a whip on the way down – not tensing up to smash something hard.
Ball position is everything in iron play. If you aren’t careful about it, you can create some major problems in your game just by getting an inch or two off.
When you’re hitting a fairway wood, you’ve got a lot of real estate to cover to get to your target. Your first instinct is probably to give it a little more power because you’re worried about coming up short.
I think most amateurs dread playing a 180-plus-yard par 3 even more than a hard par 4. Part of it is psychological: You think you should be getting a breather, distance-wise, and instead, you get hit with a long iron or hybrid shot over trouble.
I’d like to win the Masters and the PGA and complete the career Grand Slam.
I prefer old-world wines like Lafite Rothschild and Margaux.
Unless it’s a dead-straight short putt, you should focus on a spot somewhere along the line you want to roll the ball on.
Swinging harder with a longer club almost always leads to bad shots.
It is just a crazy life as a sportsman. My daughter, Sam, wants to go into tennis, and I tell her, ‘No, you don’t want to go into professional sport.’
Contours on the second half of a long putt have more impact on how the ball rolls because it’s going slower. Adjust your speed if that last part is playing uphill or downhill. Don’t get fooled by an early slope or break.
From a good lie in the middle of a fairway bunker, I’ll make the same swing as I do from an average fairway lie. I’ll dig my feet in slightly and keep my lower body stable so I won’t slip, but I don’t change my club selection or setup. It’s only when the ball is sitting down in the sand that I’ll make some modifications.
Mondays are a good day to make statements, not Friday.
For the most part, when you play a full shot from the primary rough at your course, you’re gauging how close to a standard shot you can hit based on your lie in the grass.
I never thought I’d be comfortable living outside South Africa, but we love London. Our two kids were born here.
Because of the grass and open face, I take one more club for shots from the rough, unless the ball is sitting on top of dry grass. Then, I use more loft and swing softer, trying to hit it about 70 percent to avoid a flyer over the green.
I’ve got my life. I’m very serious about my business. I’ve got my family. And I’ve got my game.
You probably don’t hit as many fairway-bunker shots as you do the greenside ones, and that unfamiliarity might make you a bit nervous.
Check the card before you play. If you have a couple of long par 3s, put an extra hybrid in your bag. You’ll be glad you did.
There have been so many majors that got away, starting at Riviera in ’95, taking a three-shot lead into the final round of the PGA and not winning.
With shorter clubs, your ball position should be just back of middle, to really promote hitting the ball first on a downward strike.
In 2002, the 2000 Engelbrecht Els wine was released in South Africa and received high ratings.
From the rough, I’d use a 6-iron, play the ball back an inch or two and swing down on a steeper angle to catch the ball first. It also helps to aim slightly left and open the clubface at address. You’ll get more height on the shot, and the club will cut through the grass more easily.
Before you take your address, while you’re still reading the putt, imagine the ball tracking on the line you’ve chosen and falling into the cup. If you don’t believe you can make every putt, why bother trying?
I plot the par 5s back from the green and make my plan. If I can reach the green in two shots, I’m going to be aggressive off the tee. But if ‘s a three-shot hole, the goal changes. You want to put yourself in position to hit your favorite shot to the green.
