Published On: Sat, Oct 31st, 2020

Local Palm Beach County Resident And Golf Hall Of Fame Player, Ernie Els Takes On Boca Raton

From Oct. 26 through Nov. 1st the PGA Tour, TimberTech Championship is held right here in Boca Raton, Fl., starring Hall of Famer and local Jupiter resident, Ernie Els.

As a four-time Major winner, Els is eager and as driven as a golf club, to be competing this week, especially so close to home. 

“Boca is kind of a home game for me. That doesn’t happen often, so I’ll enjoy it. I’m sure it will be a great week. Hats off to the guys at the Tour. They’ve done an incredible job with the revised schedule in extremely challenging situations,” Els said to Palm Beach Post Reporter Craig Dolch. 

Els is still finding his way on the course as a rookie, yet his accomplishments speak for themselves. Having won the SAS Championship this past August and achieving a solo third at the PURE Insurance Championship, those are just two of his growing accomplishments.

With nine top 10 finishes and two wins out of his 11 starts, Els is dipping his feet into the reality of this competition. 

“‘I’m a pure rookie, green as they come,” Els said the week of the SAS, where he posted his second victory,’” Bob McClellan of PGA Tour, said.

Els mentioned the competition and how he felt he could just run through a couple of matches among the other competitors. Another rookie, Jim Furyk and a couple of others such as another Jupiter resident, Mark Calcavecchia and Delray Beach resident, Jeff Sluman. 

“I’ll tell you this, I think the competition is more than I realized,” Els said. “I thought, eh, come in and push these guys around. These guys are … they’re shooting under par. If the conditions are right, you’d better be on your game to compete with these guys. That’s what I found,” Els said to PGA Reporter, McClellan. 

Word on the course is that Els is a competitive player and had the potential of being in the playoff at the PURE Insurance competition had he not missed a three-footer at his 54th hole– his final-round score over the last six events averaged to be 66.83. 

“I’ve had a pretty nice go so far, I’ve had one win (now two) and quite a few close calls, but to get it pushed over the line you have to be really on your game; short game, every aspect of your game’s got to be on,” Els said to PGA Reporter. 

The TimberTech competition is being held, for its 14th consecutive year, at The Old Course at Broken Sounds. 

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