Tiger Woods, Ernie Els downplay talk of rivalry
By Jimmy Burch / Knight Ridder Newspapers
AUGUSTA, Ga. -- They reside in separate, swanky, gated communities
in Orlando, Fla., each with a distinctive personality and a different
golf course as its hub.
Isleworth Country Club is showy, trendy, energized -- a suburban
reflection of the MTV generation. Its members include the city's
"nouveau riche" who enjoy rubbing elbows with Michael
Jordan, Shaquille O'Neal or Ken Griffey Jr. Tiger Woods, the top-ranked
player in the world golf rankings, lives and plays there.
Lake Nona Golf & Country Club attracts a more laid-back
clientele. It is located within the Orlando city limits, rather
than the tony suburbs. Members tend to be business executives
and civic leaders who are not smitten with celebrities and who
prefer to keep a low profile away from the office. Ernie Els,
the No. 2 player in the world golf rankings, lives and plays there.
Beginning with Thursday's opening round at the Masters Tournament,
both Woods and Els will play at Augusta National Golf Club. At
stake, depending on the outcome, could be a changing of the guard
at the top of golf's elite list. The two have traded positions
on three occasions since June, with Woods (12.71) clinging to
a slight advantage over Els (12.12).
A missed cut by Woods and a strong finish by Els could reverse
their positions. Using the three-year sliding scale that determines
the ranking, no other player is in position to seriously challenge
for the top spot. Not even Dallas resident Justin Leonard, who
leads the PGA Tour in earnings ($946,963) but ranks 11th in the
world rankings.
Spin it any way you want: Tiger vs. Ernie. Southern California
native vs. South African transplant. Isleworth vs. Lake Nona.
Undeterred vs. Understated.
The bottom line is that the Woods-Els clash of long-hitting,
20-something titans at a driver's paradise like Augusta has been
a hot topic of discussion on the PGA Tour for weeks. It is a budding
rivalry made in golf heaven. And it is one that has been stoked
by a couple of memorable head-to-head encounters this season heading
into Masters week.
Woods, who ranks sixth on the PGA Tour money list ($589,986),
rallied from an eight-stroke deficit during the final round to
defeat Els on Jan. 25 at the Johnnie Walker Tournament in Thailand.
Els, who sits one spot behind Woods on the money list ($502,538),
answered with a 36-hole Sunday effort of 65-73 to win the Bay
Hill Invitational on March 22. Els' closing charge allowed him
to surpass Woods, his final-round playing partner, in front of
both players' adopted home crowd in Orlando.
"That was quite important for me," said Els, 28,
a two-time U.S. Open champion. "He'd caught up eight shots
on the last day (in Thailand), 11 shots in two days ... and I
felt like I needed to do something.
"It is probably always going to be kind of tough when
we get together head-to-head. There's got to be a loser somewhere
and it's not always nice to keep finishing second all the time.
It's always nicer to win. To come out a winner, playing 36 holes
with ... Tiger, was important for my self-esteem and confidence."
Els' comments marked the closest that either player has come
to a public admission that extra emotional juices flow when the
two get in the hunt at the same tournament. Both players downplay
talk of a rivalry, although peers view it as a logical offshoot
of their performances.
Leonard, 25, said last summer's locker room chatter about the
abundance of "young guns" on the PGA Tour has narrowed
its focus in recent months to the Woods-Els battle for the No.
1 spot in the world rankings.
"I've noticed that. But I don't feel left out," said
Leonard, who won the 1997 British Open and picked up the $720,000
winner's check March 29 at The Players Championship. "I don't
finish a round and rush to find out, ÔWhat did Ernie do?
What did Tiger do? What did Phil (Mickelson) do?' That's not something
that really drives me. I don't know how much it drives them."
Although Els dismisses the rivalry talk as "rubbish,"
his comments about his Bay Hill triumph undermine such sentiment.
Woods, likewise, prefers to dance around the subject.
"You guys love that rivalry stuff, don't you?" Woods
laughed, when reporters asked about his relationship with Els.
"I don't think there is a rivalry at all between Ernie and
I because you can't forget Phil. You can't forget David (Duval).
You can't forget Justin or Davis (Love III). I wouldn't say there
is a rivalry between No. 1 and No. 2 now because there are too
many modern players ... that you can't have a one-on-one rivalry
anymore."
Yet Woods conceded that he is bothered by his Sunday swoon
at Bay Hill.
"I definitely didn't play as well as Ernie. That is obvious
... and I was definitely disappointed," Woods said. "I
still need to put that one behind me, but it's tough. That was
a situation where I really wanted to do well but never gave myself
a chance."
Retief Goosen, a teammate of Els' on the South Africa team
that won the 1997 Dunhill Cup, stayed at Els' house in Orlando
while competing at the Bay Hill tournament. The inevitable comparisons
to Woods "definitely motivate him," Goosen said of Els.
"He doesn't think of it as a competition thing. But Ernie
definitely wants to be the best," Goosen said. "If he
thinks too much about it, he won't get there. So he just focuses
on winning, regardless of who he plays. As long as he keeps winning,
he gets there."
Actually, Els has closed the gap on Woods this season. He ranks
among the top 10 money winners on both the PGA and Europen PGA
Tours. In the United States, Woods has averaged $84,284 per tournament
start this season while Els -- in three fewer events -- has averaged
$125,635, including the head-to-head victory.
Many peers notice something in Els that Woods, 22, is only
beginning to address this season.
"Over the past two years, Ernie Els has shown me he has
a lot more patience than Tiger Woods," said ESPN golf analyst
Andy North, a two-time U.S. Open winner. "That is the sort
of thing that really shows up in major championships. It's what
separates players."
Heading into Masters week, the two long-hitters from Orlando
are separated by only the thinnest of margins at the top of the
world golf rankings. They are 1-1 in high-profile, head-to-head
meetings this season. It seems like the perfect backdrop for a
budding rivalry. Regardless of whether the two protagonists opt
to acknowledge it or not.
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(c) 1998, Fort Worth Star-Telegram
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