Sunday, June 18
By Bob Harig
Special to ESPN Golf Online
PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. -- Somebody had to play with Tiger Woods on Sunday, and so there was Ernie Els, a witness to history.
He had his own thoughts about putting together a miracle round, just in case the Monterey Peninsula did break off into the Pacific or Woods slipped off a cliff.
|  | | Ernie Els had to settle for his second second-place finish in a major this season. |
Alas, there was no collapse, only a coronation.
Woods strolled to victory amid the beautiful scenery that is Pebble Beach, and Els, a two-time U.S. Open champion himself, never felt so helpless.
"I had the privilege to play with him today," said Els, who tied for second, a record 15 strokes back. "I saw the weather before we went out, and I knew I had no chance. I tried to play a solid round of golf, but I didn't make too many putts.
"But Tiger didn't miss too many shots. He got it up and down every time he missed the green. When you have a guy playing like that, you have no chance. It was just a dominating performance."
Woods captured his third major championship in much the same style he won his first at the 1997 Masters: in a rout. He led from start to finish, was ahead by six shots after 36 holes, by 10 after 54 and by 15 at the end to set a major championship record that dated back to 1862, when Old Tom Morris won the British Open by 13 shots at Prestwick.
Els could only chuckle at the thought of an 1800s golfer compared to Woods.
"If you put Old Tom Morris with Tiger Woods ... he'd probably beat him by 80 shots right now," Els said. "The guy is unbelievable. To win by 15 strokes, the biggest margin in a major ... I'm running out of words."
And the record books are running out of room to list all of Woods' accomplishments. At age 24, he already has 20 PGA Tour wins and three major championships.
His peers are at a loss as to how to beat him.
"It seems like everybody worked out harder this offseason, practiced harder and came out more determined," said two-time U.S. Open champion Lee Janzen. "But he's on a level that nobody can catch."
"We all felt for the longest time that someone was going to come along who could drive the ball 300 yards and putt like (Ben) Crenshaw," said three-time major championship winner Nick Price. "Well, this guy drives the ball better than anyone I've seen and putts better than Crenshaw. When you put that together, it's hard to beat. He's a phenomenon. No doubt about it."
Els was asked if it was embarrassing to be part of a field that took such a beating.
"It's kind of tough to take, you know," Els said. "When you have the best player in the world on his game, you can't make any mistakes. You've got to play out of your mind.
"If I look at myself, my short game was down, I didn't putt very well, I made a lot of stupid mistakes. I played one great round this week. So what do we have to do to get to him? Hit everything you can get, and then hope for the best."
Els knows the highs of winning a U.S. Open. He did it twice, prevailing in a playoff over Colin Montgomerie and Loren Roberts in 1994 and winning again in 1997, holding off Montgomerie and Tom Lehman.
But he'd still like some of what Tiger's got.
"I'd like to know his formula," Els said. "When he takes weeks off, he comes back even better. That hunger for winning a major championship is like 110 percent. It's there every week. To be honest with you, I don't feel like that every week when I'm playing. He's just different."
Very different.
Bob Harig, who covers golf for the St. Petersburg Times, writes a column every Tuesday for ESPN Golf Online. |  |
