ESPN Golf

MARANA, Ariz. -- The man spends a huge amount of time in his jet, so you have to believe that on his numerous journeys across the Atlantic and around the world, Ernie Els has let his mind wander to that day nearly four years ago when a guy named Todd Hamilton got the best of him.

The Big Easy has never really been the same since.

There was the knee injury a year later -- and the time needed to recover from that. And there have been successes along the way, such as his victory last fall at the HSBC World Match Play Championship, the seventh time he has won the prestigious tournament.

But if you could pin Els down -- and it is hard to believe he would ever say so publicly -- it is a good bet he would point to Hamilton's upset at the 2004 British Open at Royal Troon as a defeat from which he has never fully recovered.

Els, a surprise late entry into the Accenture World Match Play Championship, has not won in the United States since 2004 and has stalled at 15 PGA Tour victories. (He has 44 international titles.)

"To be honest with you, I've taken some big blows in the last four or five years," said Els, 38, who plays Jonathan Byrd in a first-round match at the Gallery Golf Club on Wednesday.

There are no visible scars from a recent run of blown chances, including three weeks ago at the Dubai Desert Classic, where he rinsed his Callaway at the final hole when he had a chance to catch Tiger Woods. But the mental scars are another matter.

The defeats have come in cruel fashion lately, including the Dubai debacle, where Els held the 54-hole lead and a four-shot cushion over Woods. But the world's No. 1 player made five birdies over the final seven holes while Els twice missed par putts on the back nine. A birdie at the 18th would have forced a playoff, but his 5-wood found the middle of the lake.

The bogey dropped him to third place, which at least kept the number of times he has finished runner-up to Woods at seven -- the most by any player.

"It's definitely more mental than physical," swing coach David Leadbetter said recently. "It's getting aggravating now. It's happened a number of times in different locations. But as I've said to him, he can't get down on himself. It's not as if he played badly."

No, but there have been some high-profile meltdowns. The splashed approach at Dubai was preceded by another 18th-hole meltdown at the Dunhill Championship in his native South Africa at the end of 2007. Leading by two strokes heading to the par-5 18th, Els hit his approach into the water, leading to a triple-bogey 8. Winner John Bickerton was as stunned as Els.

Prior to that, while in contention at the Dunhill Links Championship at St. Andrews, Els putted a ball off the green and into a bunker at the 16th hole and made triple.

"Making an 8 on a par-5 and losing, and then again in Dubai," Els said Tuesday. "[Those were] two tournaments where I really should have probably won."

Els took a longer break that normal in the offseason, scheduling only Dubai and the Indian Masters before making his debut on the PGA Tour. He was originally going to skip the Accenture Match Play Championship -- where he has never made it past the second round -- and start in Florida next week at the Honda Classic.

But late last week, he changed his mind. "I felt like I had enough rest," he said. "I just felt it is a big event."

Els set up his schedule this year to better prepare for the major championships. At the moment, he is planning on playing the week prior to each one. Although he was in contention at the British Open the past two years and at last year's PGA Championship, he has not fared particularly well in the majors since 2004 -- when he had a chance to win all four.

That year, he needed just a single victory at the right time to return to No. 1 in the world -- a place he occupied for nine weeks a decade ago.

He stood on the putting green at Augusta National, then felt the ground shake beneath him as Phil Mickelson made a birdie putt at the 18th hole to win his first major at the Masters, edging Els by a shot. At the U.S. Open, Els played in the final group but shot 80 as countryman Retief Goosen won. At the PGA, he three-putted the final green from 100 feet to miss a playoff by one stroke.

But the British Open was the ultimate blow. Hamilton was a nice story that year, a journeyman pro who played most of his career in Japan and made it to the PGA Tour as a rookie at age 38. He won the Honda Classic, then found himself paired with Els the final two days at Royal Troon. And Els could not shake him.

A four-hole aggregate playoff saw Els make four pars to Hamilton's three pars and a birdie. Hamilton lifted the Claret Jug -- and has barely been heard from since, posting just a single top-10 finish in nearly three full years.

Els, meanwhile, remains among the game's elite, ranked fourth in the world. Near the end of 2006, he announced an ambitious three-year plan in which he hoped to overtake Woods for No. 1 in the world. Some 15 months in, he has not made up any ground.

"I've got a long-term view on these things," Els said. "I've been working really hard with [Callaway] to try to get the equipment to where I'm really comfortable. … I really want to get into the mix over here in the States and really try and get close to winning tournaments or even giving myself a chance. And I think if I can get over that little hill, things will go a little smoother, hopefully.

"It's been a tough couple of years for me. But I've got to keep going. I've got to try to keep fighting and keep working on my game. That's basically the bottom line, just to keep working."

Still, it must be difficult to keep from wondering what could have been. How much might things be different today if Els had defeated Hamilton, now ranked 791st in the world?

Bob Harig is a frequent contributor to ESPN.com. He can be reached at BobHarig@gmail.com.