Els: Needed a change
Ernie Els is hoping his time spent with swing coach Butch Harmon can propel him to a first Masters title.
The South African has six top-10 finishes at Augusta to his name, including being runner-up twice, but has failed to land a blow since missing out to Phil Mickelson in 2004, missing the cut 12 months ago for the first time in 12 years.
Els approached Harmon after winning the Honda Classic in March, and the pair starting working together after Els decided to dispense with the services of David Leadbetter after almost two decades together.
But the 37-year-old is in no doubt that the change is for the better.
"I just wanted to get a different feel, get different words coming towards me and just find a bit more about how Butch is teaching," he said.
"He has obviously had a lot of success with a lot of players, and I love the way he changes people's games.
"I've seen it before. I've seen it with Stewart Cink and I've seen it with Justin Leonard and a lot of other players. I like the way they swing.
"I spoke to David about it on the telephone and obviously it's tough breaking up with a guy like Lead, but he'll be a friend of mine forever.
"That's the direction that I wanted to take, just make a difference in my golf swing."
However, Els admits making changes so close to the first Major of the season is not the ideal preparation.
"It could go either way," he added. "When I do those moves and I get it in the right slot, I'm hitting really wonderful golf shots.
"But to do that around Augusta, with all of the hazards and trouble around this place, that's another story.
"If I can slide in a couple of good ones, I can take the momentum and move forward from there."
