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Jun 30
Hoping to regain his winning ways, the Big Easy has given caddie J.P. Fitzgerald his pink slip after 18 months and reportedly is going back to his former caddie, Ricci Roberts. Els has claimed more than 50 of his 64 victories around the world with Roberts on the bag, including all three of his major championships. Roberts has been working with young South African Charl Schwartzel and Mark McNulty, who plays the Champions Tour, since splitting with Els late in 2006. The Els-Roberts team is expected to be back in business for the Barclays Scottish Open next week at Loch Lomond, where he walked away with the title in 2000 and 2003. In the meantime, Els is vacationing with his family in South Africa and keeping an eye on three of his golf course projects. He also will continue to work on his game in addition to going to the course he designed at Fancourt and visiting with the youngsters there at the Ernie Els Foundation facility. Els said he believes the swing changes implemented by instructor Butch Harmon are really kicking in as the Open Championship approaches, and he thinks he could have been right there with Tiger Woods and Rocco Mediate in the U.S. Open had he been able to make a few putts. Even the best golfers in the world sometimes slip in one facet of the game while working overtime on another, and that might be what's happened to Els. |
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