Winning Ways

Last updated: 16th March 2010

Golf365 reveals the secrets of success for last week's worldwide winners, including Ernie Els.

ERNIE ELS - WGC CA CHAMPIONSHIP WINNER

In the bag

Driver - Callaway FT-9 Tour Authentic
3-wood - Callaway X Tour
Irons - Callaway Tour Authentic Proto X
Wedges - Callaway X Forged
Putter - Odyssey White Ice
Ball - Callaway Tour (i)s

Turning point

Sometimes those of us on the outside looking in sense a turning point. It is rarer, however, for a player to later admit acknowledging one, much less the defeated player.

But tournament runner-up Charl Schwartzel was in no doubt after the final round.

"I was on Ernie's heels all the time," he said. "It was close all the way and then he made a big save on 14. It was a turning point."

Els had been struggling on the 14th before dropping a 25-foot par putt into the front of the hole.

Schwartzel knew how much it meant because he had experienced similar moments himself when winning back-to-back at the start of the year: "Yeah, I did it against the guys, back in the first weeks of January when I won. There's always a turning point, and it's amazing, you can just see it."

Schwartzel understood the importance of the moment and tried to respond: "I just sort of thought to myself, 'Don't let this be the turning point.' But in the back of your mind, that was big for him, for his confidence."

However, in trying to repel the turning point Schwartzel slipped on the very next hole.

"I felt like I hit a good shot on 15, but the wind slightly turned on me, the ball came up short and plugged, and that was a bit of a killer blow."

The turning point on 14 was confirmed.

Stats

The final round birdie-bogey count proved the difference between the two South Africans.

They started the round tied for the lead and one shot ahead of Padraig Harrington, but they wasted little time turning it into a head to head battle for the title.

Both struck six birdies in that final round - but Schwartzel added four bogies and Els made none to complete his four shot victory.

Throughout the tournament Els excelled from tee to green (ranked third for Greens in Regulation) and also around and on the putting surface (ranked first for Scrambling and third for Total Putting).

Insight

Els went into the Honda Classic at PGA National excited to be playing a course he had won on two years previously but he could only finish in a tie for 67th.

After his fourth round he went to work on the range at his local club in Florida and worked until dark.

He then played a pro-am on the Monday and finally, on Tuesday, found the key to his improvement: he moved the ball in his stance and immediately improved both posture and stance, setting himself up for a good week.

In his words

In the last two years Els has hit the age of 40, seen his world ranking dip and experienced a win drought. He addressed these issues with care and thought after finally lifting his first trophy in two years.

"I don't think the motivation was lacking. I just think that I went about my game the wrong way, I was almost chasing my own tail a little bit.

"I was not looking after the smaller things, meaning my normal mechanics, the basics; I wasn't looking after that.

"I was looking at the whole big picture on Thursday morning, saying, 'Oh, I'm going to win the golf tournament.' And it takes four days of good play. It takes strategy. It takes mental strength. It takes patience.

"And I kind of let that all out of the window and I was just going for the big prize. I was just not quite managing myself correctly.

"I was doing the work, but I was not getting the benefit out of it."

DEREK LAMELY - PUERTO RICO OPEN CHAMPION

In the bag

Driver - Callaway FT-9
3-wood - Callaway FT
Irons - Callaway X Prototypes
Wedges - Callaway X Tour
Putter - Odyssey Black Series i #6
Ball - Titleist ProV1x

Turning point

Because of the poor weather conditions on Thursday and Friday the final two rounds began towards the end of Sunday and there was to be no re-draw of tee times for the final round.

Lamely raced through the field with his third round 63 and consequently was playing the final round over nine holes ahead of the other leaders.

That could have been a distraction for him, but it actually had the opposite effect.

"You know," he said, "I was so far ahead in holes that it helped me in some respects, because the whole time I knew I was behind. Even if I was leading I still felt like I was behind because they had so many more holes than I did."

"So that was the way I went into it, but I just kept on trying to make birdies, I kept on trying to be aggressive. I figured maybe if I could maybe get ahead with them having nine holes to go and maybe put pressure on them, I might could get out, and I got lucky enough and it worked."

Stats

This was only Lamely's 12th start at PGA Tour level but he clearly wastes no time grabbing wins - he won on the Nationwide Tour last year on just his tenth start at that level.

He also became the first player to win a PGA Tour event when teeing off his final round from the tenth tee since Keith Clearwater in the 1987 Colonial Invitational.

His win came courtesy of a birdie blitz during the final two rounds.

He claimed 16 birdies (and just one bogey) in 32 holes before calmly slotting four pars in his final four holes to set a 19-under par target that no-one could match.

Insight

In the betting preview of this event we highlighted the link between this event and Florida form, and Lamely's win strengthened that impression.

He resides in the state, went to college at Florida Gulf Coast University and was seventh in the Miccosukee Championship in Florida last year, one of only three starts he has made at Nationwide/PGA Tour level in the state.

"

For whatever reason, when I get on the greens, I can really see the lines," he said of the Trump International course. "You know, I feel really comfortable on the greens in that respect, speed of the greens. I've got greens like this at home."

"So for whatever reason, I feel like my lines are good. My speed is pretty good here. Just kind of a good fit."

He had proved as much in 2008 when he finished 13th and only in his third round did he fail to beat par.

In his words

In his press conference Lamely confirmed that he loved the course.

"Really, it all started last year," he said. "I Monday qualified to get in and even when I played the practice round last year, I really liked the golf course. The golf course really picked my eye, except for maybe a shot here and there, which is like every other player."

"It's a really good golf course. It's fun to play. I like playing in the wind. It makes it a little more creative, hitting shots into the hole.

"This year was a little different. It was soft and wet, but it's the same thing. Yeah. Definitely. I love it here."

AROUND THE WORLD:

LADIES EUROPEAN TOUR
Yani Tseng - Handa Australian Open Champion

Korea's Tseng started the final round four shots behind leader Karrie Webb but a stunning final round of seven-under par 66, which included four birdies in the last six holes, saw her complete a three shot victory. Earlier in the week Anna Nordqvist compared the Commonwealth GC to Sunningdale - perhaps Tseng appreciated the similarity because she was the runner-up at the English course in the 2008 British Open. Another crucial factor was a change to her putting grip on Friday which helped her find the pace of the sandbelt greens. She was also imperious tee to green in the final round - missing just one green in regulation.

EUROPEAN SENIORS TOUR
Boonchu Ruangkit - Chang Thailand Masters Winner

After victory in Brunei last week Ruangkit transferred his form to his home country with a stunning 11-shot trouncing of the field (he is now 35-under par for his last six rounds). It was the first time the Seniors Tour has played in Thailand and Asian experience told, not just for Ruangkit but also for the three men who shared second place: Japan's Katsuyoshi Tomori, Frankie Minoza from the Philippines and Ruangkit's fellow Thai Jamnian Chitprasong.