Ernie Els has warmed up for this week's WGC-Cadillac Championship by saying he wants further major glory.
South African still aiming high on eve of Doral defence
Ernie Els has warmed up for this week's WGC-Cadillac Championship by saying he wants further major glory.
The 41-year-old will defend his title at Doral this week after ending a barren run of form to tame the 'Blue Monster' 12 months ago.
The South African starts the week in similarly indifferent form to last year, failing to reach the quarter-finals at the Match Play before trailing in amongst the 'also-rans' at last week's Honda Classic.
But, as last year, Els played a practice round with world number two Lee Westwood on Monday and says he benefitted from the experience.
"Lee's still hitting the ball beautifully," Els added. "I like to pick up things and I think I have something again, so I think I should play with him more often.
"I think I have a major or two in me and I just want to get back on track here."
Good vibes
Els is only just getting going this season with last week's outing in Florida his first strokeplay event for six weeks.
"Golf is a strange and unpredictable game and sometimes things can turn around very quickly," he said. "I'm hoping the good vibes of coming back here and defending my title will give me the boost that I need.
"Just 12 months ago this win was my first on the PGA Tour for a while after a bit of a lean spell and I went on to win again the following week.
"Yes, winning gets harder as you get older, but I still feel like I've got a lot left."
Reminded that Jack Nicklaus won his 18th major 25 years ago at the age of 46, Els said: "It gives a lot of hope to us forty-somethings.
"There's been a lot of majors won by guys in their forties - Hogan, Vijay (Singh), O'Meara - but what Jack did was amazing.
"I think everybody would like to hit it a bit further and I'd like to putt better. I've been looking at old videos of mine when I putted very aggressively and confidently. I'd like to get that back."
