I’ve said throughout my career that whenever I tee it up I always play to win, so any time I get the opportunity to do that and don’t get the job done, obviously I’m disappointed and angry with myself. That pretty much summed up my emotions on Sunday evening. I was so ‘hot’ I found it difficult to even think straight. I’ve had a night to sleep on it, though. It still hurts the way I finished the tournament, but I know in my heart how well I played all week. I have to believe that if I keep doing what I’m doing, the results will reflect that and I’ll give myself plenty more opportunities to win.
The thing is, if at the start of the week you’d have offered me rounds of 70, 67, 68 and 67 for a 12-under par total I’d have liked the sound of that. But that putt on 18…well, it kind of leaves a nasty taste. It’s a difficult green, but I should have made it. I was trying to jam it in there and I just pulled it, simple as that.
It’s a tough deal, but I have to take stock and try to see the positives. This was one of my best performances on the PGA Tour since 2010. I drove the ball well, topped the greens in regulation for the week and I was right up there in the number of birdies made. I made some nice putts, too. All you can do, as I said before, is keep playing well, keep putting in the work and keep putting yourself in a position to win.
If I’m going to secure my place in the Masters I may have to win, or at least come very close, in one of my next two tournaments. I’m at Bay Hill this week and then Houston straight after that. The nice thing is I’ll go into both of those tournaments knowing my game is pretty much right where I need it to be in order to compete and get in the mix again. And next time I like to think I can finish the job off.
Moving away from tournament golf for a moment there are a couple of other things I want to talk about. Last week’s Els for Autism Pro Am was a huge success. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate the support of everyone who gets involved in this: the tour pros, the amateurs and the sponsors. In the four years since we started this event it has raised around $3 million. It helps bring us a step closer to opening the Els for Autism Center of Excellence, which I anticipate will be operational by 2015.
In other news our team from Ernie Els Design has been displaying at the China Golf Show and took that opportunity to make a big announcement about some exciting new projects for our company in Malaysia. Construction has begun on two major golf course developments, an 18-hole course at the eco-destination resort Teluk Datai in Langkawi and a 27-hole layout at the much-anticipated upcoming integrated luxury destination Desaru Coast in Johor. We’re working in partnership with Destination Resorts, established and supported by the Malaysian government.
As a course designer, I feel so fortunate to be working with Destination Resorts and to be awarded with some of the most beautiful terrain in Asia. I’ve visited the site with our head of design Greg Letsche. Together we all share the same vision. I am confident our work here will set a new standard, leaving a lasting legacy for Malaysian golfers and the region as a whole. It’s an exciting time for us. Our design team is also providing technical services for another project at Desaru Coast, an 18-hole course for Vijay Singh. Construction work is due to start there in the summer.
Anyway, that’s about all I have time for right now. This would normally be a day off for me, as I get ready to play my next tournament, but this Monday and Tuesday I’m playing in the Tavistock Cup just down the road at Lake Nona. This used to be a two-team event between Lake Nona and Isleworth, until last year when they drafted in two new teams, Albany in the Bahamas and Queenwood in England.
We always have a fantastic bunch of guys playing in this and the camaraderie among the players is great. My old team Lake Nona took the honours last year with a pretty spectacular aggregate of 43-under par. My new team Albany was in second place on 27-under par. Not the closest contest we’ve ever seen, it must be said!
Still, charity continues to be the big winner in this event. I believe the total raised in the eight years we’ve been playing the Tavistock Cup is in excess of $6 million. That kind of money goes a long way to helping a lot of people in need. I know I speak for all the players when I say it’s gratifying to be a part of that.
Okay, got to go now. I’ll write again soon.