Els, Mickelson credit Tiger on reaching 100 majors

CHARLOTTE, North Carolina: Ernie Els and Phil Mickelson will each make his 100th major start on Thursday at the PGA Championship, and both credit Tiger Woods with helping them boost their fitness and longevity.

US left-hander Mickelson, a five-time major winner, and Els, a four-time major champion from South Africa, paid tribute to the injured 14-time major champion Tuesday at Quail Hollow.

“Had Tiger not come around, I don’t feel I would have pushed myself to achieve what I ended up achieving, because he forced everybody to get the best out of themselves,” Mickelson said.

“He forced everybody to work a little bit harder. He forced everybody to look at fitness as a big part of the game of golf, and I think that has actually helped me with longevity.

“He was a big influence on that, so I don’t think I would have had the same level of success had he not come around.”

Els, a runner-up to Woods in the 2000 US and British Opens, agreed, saying Woods’s 1997 Masters victory was so impressive it derailed his own major chances for a time.

“I was ready to win quite a few, if you know what I mean, and then when Tiger came in ‘97 and him winning the Masters in the way he did, that threw me off a little bit,” Els said.

“I thought I was really one of the top players, which I was, but that was a pretty special display of golf. I had quite a few run-ins with him in majors. It wasn’t really very close.

“This guy is so special and he absolutely changed the game. He got us to really elevate our games. But I could have had a couple more, definitely, without him around.”

Els won the 1994 and 1997 US Opens and the 2002 and 2012 British Opens. Mickelson won the 2004, 2006 and 2010 Masters, the 2005 PGA and the 2013 British Open. Els was elected to the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2011, Mickelson the following year.

“I think it will take a while to kind of sink in for the two of us, but it’s pretty cool,” Els said of becoming golf centurions.“It just goes by so fast. You don’t think about it,” Mickelson said. “It has been a lot of fun. I know we both want to win a couple more.”   —AFP