ASSOCIATED PRESS
Ernie Els nailed a 43-foot putt in a playoff to win the Sony Open in Hawaii. It was his second win in two weeks in the islands.
When his ball disappeared into the hole after its 43-foot journey across the green, Ernie Els used what energy he had left to smile and remove his cap, an exhausting end to a remarkable two weeks in Hawaii. Els reaches new high
with wins
Season openers getting stronger
Associated Press
Perhaps this is only the start.
"When you're winning golf tournaments, you like to think you're on top of the world," Els said after his stunning playoff victory over Aaron Baddeley in the Sony Open. "But I feel like I could still improve."
Hours later, the Big Easy boarded his plane Sunday night with caddie Ricci Roberts and headed for the Singapore Masters. After that, he plays twice in Australia before returning to the PGA Tour in late February for the Match Play Championship.
"I could easily relax for another week or two here in Hawaii," he said. "But we've got to do what we've got to do. It will be a nice flight, just me and Ricci. We'll have a couple of beers, talk about it. Then we'll start again Thursday."
They had plenty to talk about.Els became the first player since Steve Jones in 1989 to win the PGA Tour's first two tournaments of the year, and the first to win both Hawaii events in the same season.
Even more impressive is how he did it.
One week, Els overpowered Kapalua and a winners-only field at the Mercedes Championships to win by eight strokes with a record 31-under-par.
The next week on a Waialae course that emphasized accuracy over strength, Els slugged it out with a 21-year-old Aussie in a final round that covered 20 tense holes and left no room for error.
"This is what it's all about, isn't it?" Els said. "This is why you practice, why you spend hours on the range, for this kind of situation, where it's really tight and no one wants to give up anything. You have to just try to find a way to win."
The script was familiar to Els, just not the ending.
He figured he was beaten when his drive on the second playoff hole, the 353-yard 10th at the Waialae Country Club, sailed 40 yards left of the green. That left him an uphill pitch to a green that ran away from him, and it stopped rolling 43 feet away.
Baddeley drove into a greenside bunker, and at that point, Els thought he would be lucky to get to the next hole.
Els' chip ran through the green to the fringe, on a similar path from when he drove the 10th green in regulation. Els knew the line, but he also knew the odds.
"I was trying to make it, but from 43 feet, what's your chances, really?" he said. "Hit the best putt you can and hope for the best. I could put 100 balls down there and not make that putt again."
That's what everyone said about the 40-foot putt Tiger Woods had at Kapalua three years ago, when he beat Els in a dramatic playoff.
That's that they said about the 70-foot putt Paul Lawrie made from the "Valley of Sin" on the 18th at St. Andrews when he beat Els by one stroke in the Dunhill Links Championship two years ago on the European tour.
"I don't think he was supposed to hole that putt," Baddeley said. "I wasn't expecting him to, anyway. That was a heck of a putt."
Sony Open
