British Open Championship 2010 – Ernie Els
On the PGA Tour, Ernie Els is one of the bigger names. For years, he deserved the respect as he won 3 Major Championships during Tiger’s dominance of the sport and he was seen as one of the top rivals to Tiger Woods. This includes his victory in 2002, at the British Open. So let us look at the success of Els at the tournament, the British Open start Thursday.
This is certainly the tournament for Els, out of all of the Major Championships. I believe that he has seen even more success at the British Open, even though we can look and say that Els has won 2 U.S. Opens.
For the Championship, Els is a perennial contender. He started playing in the tournament in 1992 and he saw immediate success. In his first two years of the tournament, he finished 5th and 6th and really set the tone for what type of golfer he would be in Major Championships.
In 1996, he continued his success where he finished in 2nd place and followed up with a top 10 finish in 1997. Els still had not reached his stride in his play at the British open, although this represented a solid start for him.
Els entered into that stride in 2000. In 2000, he finished in 2nd place and started a streak of 3 straight years within the top 3 golfers at the tournament. His victory in 2002 is included in this. In 2004, with yet another second place finish, his success continued. For Els with at least a top 3 finish at the British Open, this made it 4 out of 5 years. As he has been in the top 10 of the tournament for 4 straight years entering 2010, his success has only continued. Els have finished 8th or better 8 times, since 2000. In the tournament, this includes 6 finishes of 4th or better. Els will definitely be one of the golfers to watch, as the British Open approaches.