Two Men And A Game

"I think Ernie is really back to his old self," said his agent, Chubby Chandler. "He's much more relaxed, and he's comfortable with his game again. He's settling back when he's out to dinner, having a glass of wine, laughing and getting back to who he really is. And he's not got Tiger on his mind. He's getting a bit more chilled out. He's not getting in his own way."

At 37, Els hears the ticking clock and is noticeably more resolute. Where the affable 6-foot-3, 210-pound South African was once candid about his vulnerabilities, most memorably talking about the "little man on his shoulder" after his struggle down the stretch in winning at Muirfield in 2002, he stopped short of such openness at Southern Hills.

"My motivation is to get the best out of me again, and I was this close in 2004," he said, just spreading his fingers. "Some things just take a little bit more time, and I want to still believe that I can become No. 1 and play the way I want to play at the end of the day. So that's enough said, I think."

Els' immediate challenge is to reduce the loose shots that have undermined his comeback. While Els led the Southern Hills field in birdies with 20, he also began his first round bogey-double bogey on his way to an opening 72. Saturday he made another double bogey on the short, 372-yard fourth.

"The frustrating thing which drives me nuts is that I'm making soft mistakes, soft errors," he said after his 69 Saturday. "A three-putt here or a bogey or a double from nowhere. That drives me crazy. ... If I can start eliminating those mistakes, I can start really challenging for tournaments again. At the moment it feels like such a slow process for me. It's a bit of a battle with the game of golf at the moment."

Els' mistakes were minimal Sunday, but because he started the day six shots behind Woods, he had no margin for error. His first was a weak putt from six feet for birdie on the ninth. After a birdie at 10 got him to four under for the day, he had another six-footer for birdie on the 11th, but powered it through the break. When he pushed his tee shot on the 12th and missed a 12-footer for par, it left him with too much to make up.

"I've made strides, especially the last couple of months," Els said. "I just need to keep working on it -- just keep grinding it out. I need to start winning tournaments, and that will create confidence, and winning becomes almost a habit. Look at Tiger."

OK, let's. First, his fourth Wanamaker Trophy restored Woods to the glory with which he closed out 2006. Although he opened the year by elongating his PGA Tour winning streak to seven, 2007 has been an uneven year. Even with four victories, there have been life events and commitments that seemed to blur his focus, lending its own "softness" to his performance in the majors.

After close seconds at the Masters and U.S. Open that featured some uncharacteristic Sunday mistakes, Woods turned in a puzzling performance at Carnoustie. Surprisingly erratic with his irons -- usually a stable force in Woods' arsenal -- he finished T-12. After some time off and a day of reconnaissance at Southern Hills, Woods arrived at Firestone for the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational admittedly a bit adrift. His practice with coach Hank Haney was dedicated to reviewing fundamentals, and Haney left after Woods' first-round 68.

But based on their session together, Woods built toward some important fixes. The duo discovered that playing in the wind of Carnoustie had caused Woods to get too low in his posture and swing flatter. When Woods began to stand taller, it allowed him to swing with more freedom and square the club more easily. Woods also remembered to work on letting his head rotate toward the target through impact, an Annika Sorenstam move that Haney favors because it combats Woods' tendency to lower into his downswing and become "ball bound."