Finding cure for son's autism a main focus for Els
Ernie Els has never used it as an excuse, and repeatedly points out that life is filled with obstacles, even for famous professional golfers.
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After his victory at last year's Honda Classic, Ernie Els revealed his son has autism. The three-time major winner decided to discuss the topic to raise awareness about the disease, which affects 1 in 150 children.
But could you blame Els if he was distracted in recent years? And could that help explain why the Big Easy had anything but an easy time on the golf course?
It was just after his victory a year ago that Els acknowledged that his son, Ben, has autism, and that he hoped to use his fame to get the word out about the affliction that now affects a staggering 1 in 150 children, according to the advocacy group Autism Speaks.
"There's a lot of emotion," Els said recently. "What we do in our sport is an emotional roller coaster in itself, but I've tried to play golf, and whatever happens off-course you deal with. But there are times it does creep in and you get a little crazy. You've seen me walk off golf courses the last couple years like I'm on a different planet."
The year Ben was born, 2002, is when Els won his last major championship at the British Open. Two years later, Els contended in all four majors, losing the British in a playoff, and won three times on the PGA Tour.
His victory that fall at the American Express Championship turned out to be his last on the PGA Tour until he came from behind to win at PGA National a year ago. A knee injury suffered in 2005 was a big reason for the drop-off, but learning of his son's autism certainly had to play a role that Els cannot quantify.
He knew, however, that his win at the Honda Classic would be a good time to open up about his son's issues.
"I got to this stage where you are either going to talk about what's happening to Ben, or you just have to not [talk about it]," Els said. "We are in the public eye, when you travel with Ben, you can really start seeing there's something going on there. I don't want to feel like we are hiding anything, we are not trying to hide behind his autism, and I really wanted to get more involved in finding a cure for autism, because it's such a big problem.
"The win gave me another step up to really talk about it and get some awareness going, which we did for a long time. It's always going to die down, that's fine, but the wheels are more set in motion. We have got a lot further down the road with autism since I got out with it."
Els has not just talked about it. Along with his wife, Liezl, he set up a foundation. His bag has an Autism Speaks logo on it. And he will host a pro-am later this month at PGA National, site of the Honda, for autism research.
Perhaps the biggest change of all was a move to South Florida. For years, Els had a home in Orlando, but when his daughter Samantha, now 9, was born, he elected to spend most of his time in London. It was easier to play a worldwide schedule from there, and easier to get back to his native South Africa.
But Ernie and Liezl decided they could get better care for their son in the United States; hence, they moved to Jupiter, Fla., last summer.
"My wife is there more than I, and she's dealing with the foundation more than I am here at home," Els said. "How it's changed me? I'm not sure. I talk about it more in the public eye; other people who get affected by it like to talk to me about it because they are going to have families. We are trying to find out why it is happening."
Els, a three-time major winner with 16 PGA Tour titles, has not won since his Honda victory. But he has had six top-10s, and he spoke last week at the Accenture Match Play Championship about his game being close. He lost in the quarterfinals to Stewart Cink.
It seems hard to believe, but Els turns 40 later this year. A long time has passed since Els won the 1994 U.S. Open at Oakmont at age 24. If there is a sense of urgency, Els is not feeling it. He knows he still has plenty of time. If anything, there is an added perspective these days.
"You can't help but feel for Ben," Els said. "He's a healthy kid [and] everything about him is perfect. But he's not going to be, call it a normal kid. He won't play the same sports and do the same things you envisioned, and that's the hard part."
A rarity: Tiger looking up
Tiger Woods is 117th on the PGA Tour money list, just behind Jason Dufner, just ahead of Greg Owen. To find a time when he has been this low on the money list after having earned a check on the tour, you have to go all the way back to 1996 -- when he made his professional debut.
Woods, of course, got a late start this year because of knee surgery, which allowed others to accumulate earnings. And when he didn't advance past the second round of the Accenture Match Play, he was credited with a tie for 17th and made $95,000. It is the first time since he debuted at the Greater Milwaukee Open in 1996 that Woods did not begin his season with a top-10 finish.
Starting in 1997, Woods has won his season-opening event six times, and his worst finish in an opener before last week was a tie for 10th at the 2002 Mercedes Championship.
A look at this week's venue
Although the Champion Course at PGA National is in just its third year as host of the Honda Classic, the venue has a long history. The 1983 Ryder Cup was played there, as was the 1987 PGA Championship. It also has hosted the Senior PGA Championship for 18 years.
And now it has given the previously nomadic Honda a strong home. The tournament began in 1972 as the Jackie Gleason Inverrary Classic at Inverrary Golf & Country Club. Honda signed on as title sponsor in 1982, and in 1984 the tournament started moving around: TPC Eagle Trace, Weston Hills, TPC Eagle Trace, TPC Heron Bay, CC at Mirasol.
Since moving to PGA National in 2007, players have been greeted by a tough venue, but one they seem to appreciate. The course has a signature finish highlighted by "The Bear Trap" -- holes 15-17 -- which were part of a Jack Nicklaus redesign and offer two par-3s and a par-4. Water comes into play on 16 of the 18 holes.
Catching up with last year's champ
When Els won the Honda Classic last year, it was seen as a breakthrough victory. He won for the first time on the PGA Tour in more than three years and came from three strokes back on the final day to do it. The win was his 16th on the PGA Tour.
But Els never really capitalized. A few weeks later he was working with Butch Harmon, trying to figure out his game. Els missed cuts in three of his next four tournaments, including the Masters. He was never really a contender at any of the majors, although he tied for seventh at the British Open. His only other top-5 of the year came at the Deutsche Bank Championship.
Els says his game is coming around this year. He has set up a base in the U.S. and is coming off a quarterfinal loss to Stewart Cink at the Accenture Match Play Championship. Els plans a big push toward the Masters and is expected to play the Arnold Palmer Invitational and Shell Houston Open before heading to Augusta.
Bob Harig covers golf for ESPN.com. He can be reached at BobHarig@gmail.com.
Birdies and bogeys
Birdies:
1. Geoff Ogilvy. The Aussie became the first player to win twice this year on the PGA Tour with his win at the Accenture Match Play and has now risen to No. 4 in the world.
2. Lorena Ochoa. After a lackluster finisher to her 2008 season, Ochoa didn't waste any time in '09, getting a victory at her first tournament, the Honda LPGA Thailand, where she overtook Paula Creamer in the final round.
3. Tiger Woods. He lasted just two days at the Match Play, but you would be hard-pressed to poke any holes in his game after an eight-month absence.
Bogeys:
1. Sergio Garcia. First-round losses at the Match Play can be explained, but Garcia bogeyed the last three holes to do it. Ouch.
2. Paula Creamer. It wasn't a late fade in Thailand; she had all but given up her three-stroke advantage before she even really got started. And then she was unable to make anything happen.
3. Henrik Stenson. The Swede said last week that not only did he have an endorsement deal with Stanford Financial, but that he also had negotiated a significant sum with the recently raided company. And now his money is frozen. How often are we going to be hearing stories like this?
On to Florida
After 20 years of playing the same tournaments in the same order, the revamped Florida Swing has made its second change in three years. Two years ago, when the Players Championship moved to May after anchoring the Florida foursome since the late 1980s, another tournament outside of Tampa was put into the mix, and the long-time Doral event was converted to a World Golf Championship tournament known as the CA Championship.
Doral had been the start of the swing but went to the end. The Honda Classic, which had typically been second, went first. The Tampa event, now known as the Transitions Championship, got the second spot followed by the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
Now it looks like this: Honda, Doral, Transitions, AP Invitational. That means there are two WGC events in three weeks. And Palmer's tournament is just two weeks before the Masters.
And if last year is any indication, it won't be an easy month. Three of the four Florida courses ranked among the toughest on the PGA Tour in 2008. Innisbrook's Copperhead course, home of the Transitions, was ranked eighth, followed by PGA National's Champion course for the Honda ninth. Bay Hill, home of Palmer's tournament, was 18th.
Notables
• When Davis Love III lost to Justin Leonard in the second round of the Match Play last week, it very well may have cost him a spot in the Masters. That's why this is a big week for Love, who is 53rd in the world rankings and can get a spot in next week's CA Championship by moving into the top 50 at the end of the Honda Classic.
He can also get there by being among the top 10 in FedEx Cup points after this week. He currently stands 14th. Getting to the WGC event is important because a decent finish there against a strong field would move him into the top 50 and secure him a spot at the Masters. David Toms is also outside of the top 50 in the world but he is not playing this week and won't qualify for Doral.
• Erik Compton, who last May received his second heart transplant, is in the Honda field as a sponsor exemption. Compton petitioned the PGA Tour for the right to use a cart and was granted a waiver through this month. He rode at first and second-stage PGA Tour qualifying this past fall as well as at the Children's Miracle Network Classic, where he tied for 60th.
Last month he played at the Dubai Desert Classic, where European Tour rules do not allow carts. Compton missed the cut. He will attempt to walk at the Honda but can use a cart in later rounds if he wishes. Compton has also been a given a sponsor exemption to the Arnold Palmer Invitational later this month.
• It turned out to be a scare more than anything else for Luke Donald. Forced by pain in his left wrist to concede his match on the 18th tee trailing Ernie Els 1-down last Friday, Donald learned over the weekend that the tendon he had repaired last summer was not the problem, but rather scar tissue that had developed. Nonetheless, he has withdrawn from the Honda Classic.
• Last week's Match Play Championship had just 17 Americans in the field, the lowest in the tournament's 11-year history.
• After first suggesting that he would head home to Ireland for a three-week break after the Match Play Championship, Padraig Harrington has changed his mind and entered next week's CA Championship at Doral. It likely has something to with playing just 10 rounds of golf in his four tournaments on the West Coast. Harrington, who will be going for a third straight major championship, tied for 24th at the Buick Invitational, missed the cut (after three rounds) at Pebble Beach, missed the cut at the Northern Trust Open, and was eliminated after one day of the Match Play.
Quotable
"What is tough about playing Geoff is that he doesn't change. He doesn't -- his demeanor doesn't waver, which is a huge attribute, especially in match play. He walks the same pace, whether he's playing well or poorly. He manages himself very, very well, and that's what I felt today. Even when I felt like I made birdies … he just sort of laughs at you and he just carries on with what he's doing. It's Geoff being Geoff. And he's not trying to put that on; it's just the way he is."
-- Paul Casey, who lost to Ogilvy in the WGC-Accenture Match Play final Sunday.
Honda Classic picks
Horse for the Course. Mark Calcavecchia. He has always considered this a home game -- Calc has a home in Palm Beach Gardens -- and last year he tied for fourth at PGA National and was in contention on the back nine. Two of his 13 victories have come at the Honda.
Birdie Buster. Robert Allenby. In the past two years at PGA National, Allenby is a combined 7 under par. You won't find many players who have finished the two tournaments played at the venue in red numbers.
Super Sleeper. Rory McIlroy. It might be a stretch to call the 19-year-old from Northern Ireland a sleeper. He is coming off a quarterfinal appearance at the Accenture Match Play and won earlier this year at Dubai. This is his first look at this venue, however.
Winner. Stewart Cink. He hasn't played the Honda since it moved to PGA National, but Cink is obviously playing well, coming off a third-place finish at the Match Play. The momentum carries over to this week.