Ernie Els, with Two Wins in 2020, No. 1 on Champions Tour
Back before the creation of FedEx points and Charles Schwab points, the top golfers were measured by the money they won. It was easy to know just knew who the top players were with that one stat.
Today, the guy at the top of the PGA Tour Champions is Ernie Els.
With two victories in his rookie season, the first at the Hoag Classic in March and the second last week at SAS Championship, Els has dethroned the others as No. 1. With his experience and skill set, it’s not a stretch to say that Els may live at or near the top of the senior tour for years to come.
Refreshing everyone’s memory on what COVID 19 did to the PGA Tour Champions scheduling: They have combined both 2020 and 2021 into one massive season, concluding with the Charles Schwab Cup Championship in November of 2021. That means all honors and awards are combined as well. All current players maintain their playing privileges.
As a newbie, Els is experiencing life with the over-50 set.
“I’m a pure rookie, green as they come,” Els said about his status on the senior circuit before the Dominion Energy Charity Classic. “I haven’t seen most of the golf courses, which is kind of exciting because you’ve really got to kind of get a feel for what you need to do.”
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He also likes the somewhat shorter courses, not that they are short in actual terms. They are just not 7500 yards. It’s more like 7100.
“You can get to par 5s in two. Par 4s aren’t killing you too much,” he explained. “If you’re on your game, you can make a score, which is quite exciting.”
Els is following in a long line of successful PGA Tour players to make the jump to the Champions circuit. Whether he will follow in the footsteps of Bernhard Langer or Hale Irwin and dominate the tour is yet to be seen. He certainly has the pedigree to be able to do it.
Fresh off a putting tip from Mark O’Meara at the Pure Insurance tournament, Els’ game is really rounding into shape. He credited O’Meara as being important to his victory last week. Els said he was missing a lot of short putts and happened to see Mark O’Meara after the first round.
“We’ve played so much golf together, I’ve known him 25 years, so he gave me a little something to work on and here we are. I’ve got to thank him,” Els said after winning the SAS.
However, it was a long putt and not a short one that slammed the door on the competition last week. Els made a 40-footer for birdie on the final hole to seal the victory. He had not led at any time during the tournament until that ball dropped.
“I made the right putts at the right time for once!” he added.
He said he was just fortunate to play a good round of golf on Sunday and hang on for the victory over Colin Montgomerie and Vijay Singh.
“It’s so great to play with these guys,” he said about the field. “Seeing the faces that I’ve known, that I’ve grown up with. I know we’ve all said it, but it’s so true, that you want to play with guys that you grew up with, ( that) you know.”
This week he faces Montgomerie, Singh, Phil Mickelson, Jim Furyk, Bernhard Langer and David Toms at the Dominion Energy Charity Classic. All are major or multiple major winners, and they have played each other for decades. It should be a hard-fought contest.
While Els is No. 1 this week, the great unknown is how long he will maintain his top spot. Will he make it all the way through to the end of the combined 2020-2021? Or will Phil Mickelson or Jim Furyk threaten. Will Bernhard Langer retake the top? Or will it be another PGA Tour Champions player to eventually emerge?