Repeat at Mercedes not so easy for Els
By Bill Kwon
Special to The Advertiser
KAPALUA, Maui — Let's see now, a pair of back-to-back 59s would do it for Ernie Els. He's still 28 strokes behind last year's pace when he won the Mercedes Championships with a PGA record 31-under-par.
The smooth-swinging Els shot a 3-under 70 yesterday for a more modest 36-hole total of 143 this time around in trailing leader Vijay Singh by 11 strokes going into today's third round.
Singh, the 2003 PGA Tour money winner, finished with seven straight birdies for a 9-under 64 to lead at 132, one stroke ahead of first-day leader Stuart Appleby.
There are still a lot of birdies out there, but even Singh admits surpassing Els' 31-under is unrealistic.
"I hope so. You're not going to do that (shoot 31under) every time you play," Els said. "You always come in with a good attitude from the way you played from the previous year. And it's always wonderful when you come to Hawai'i. It's the best place to play golf," added Els, who's also the defending champion in next week's Sony Open.
And there's something about the Plantation Course that always seems to bring out the best in him. Els lost in a dramatic playoff to Tiger Woods in 2000, tied for third the following year before winning in record fashion last year to earn $1.56 million in his three previous appearances here.
There is still some unfinished business left for Els, who is tied for 18th in the 30-player field and possibly facing his worst finish here.
"I played good today, but I missed four or five putts within eight feet," Els said about his round yesterday. "I got off to a terrible start (Thursday) and couldn't quite get it going again today."
However, golf fans on O'ahu should gear up for next week when the "Big Easy," as Els is known, gets together with the "Big Wiesy," the nickname Tom Lehman gave Michelle Wie after he saw her effortless swing.
Els and Wie will play a practice round Tuesday morning at the Waialae Country Club where they can finally compare golf swings.
Wie describes Els' swing as "totally flawless."
"That's nice," Els said, chuckling.
He has yet to see Wie play, although they met during Wednesday's pro-am. It was then that he invited Wie to play a practice round with him.
"She's got a big future ahead of her. I'd like to see her play and speak to her about where she's thinking of going. Find out a bit more what she's like," Els said.
"I think it'll be fun for both of us. I don't think we'll get the opportunity to play again all year, so might as well try and do it."
Els is involved with junior golf program through his foundation in his native South Africa. And, yes, there's a budding Michelle Wie there, too, Els said.
"Her name's Tanica Van As. She's now 16 years old and won the South African amateur championship, setting all kinds of records over there. Not quite on Michelle's level obviously, but she's a good player."
Els, a two-time U.S. Open champion (1994 and '97) and 2002 British Open winner plans on playing more PGA Tour events this year than the 17 he played last year.
Despite a somewhat limited schedule, he made the cut in all 17 tournaments to earn $3.3 million and finish ninth on the 2003 money list.
"I'm going to try and get in 20 tournaments," said Els, who's also into another "liquid asset" — wines.
Dozens of bottles of Ernie Els cabernet from his vineyards in South Africa were popped at Waialae last year celebrating his victory that made him the first since Steve Jones in 1989 to win the first two tournaments to start the season.
