Els enjoying life Stateside

Els: enjoying Florida sunshine

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Ernie Els admits his decision to swap England for America has paid dividends in terms of his end of year practice schedule.

The South African opted to move his family from Wentworth to Florida earlier in the year and feels the switch will prove hugely beneficial to his game.

The 39-year-old is currently in the States enjoying his first Thanksgiving holiday with his kin and, as a result, will this week miss the Nedbank Challenge in Sun City for the first time in 16 years.

However, he feels the climate in Florida will now ensure he is able to carry out valuable work on his game - unlike the cold winters in England.

"For us it was the first time we had experienced this special time here. The whole country kind of comes to a standstill for a few days and everyone seems to get together with their families to chill-out. That formula sounded good to us! We just spent some time together at the house and enjoyed a bit of down-time," he told his personal website.

"The weather here in West Palm Beach is perfect right now. It's consistently in the mid-to-high-70s, which means I can pop-out whenever I like and go hit some balls.

"The practice facilities are fantastic and that, along with the perfect weather, is one of the big reasons we decided to get a house here and spend more time in America. I feel like it's paying off.

"As I've said before, I love Wentworth; it'll always be a special place for us and we enjoyed being so close to London.

"But golf-wise, it was tough for me at this time of the year. I'd often have time off, but the weather would be close to freezing, which made it almost impossible to spend enough quality time working on my game.

"I'd be wrapped-up in sweaters and struggling to keep my hands warm; and obviously, that's far from ideal.

"Seriously, my hat is off to anyone who plays a lot of golf through an English winter! I'm not sure I could do it, to be honest."