Here’s a protip for all you aspiring sports reporters out there. If you really want to know what a pro athlete thinks about something, wait five years.

(Thanks Geoff)

On Feb. 5, 2005, Ernie Els shot a first round 60 at the Heineken Classic in Melbourne, Australia. Of his round, Els said at the time:

“This (Royal Melbourne) is a classic golf course. We’ll have a tough day and we can talk again. The defence for this course is the greens - firm and fast and when the wind is blowing you are going to play pretty well to break par.

“I am not going to shoot 60 again tomorrow, but I’d like to keep plugging away. I’ve got the lead in the tournament now and I’ve got to concentrate on that.”

Today Els talked about that same round during a press conference in Akron for the WGC Bridgestone Invitational. His account of what happened that day in Melbourne?

Different. Read more…

A story by Jose Lambiet of the PALM BEACH POST has officially made Ernie Els my favorite golfer.

(My guy)

One day after yet another disappointing finish at The Masters (18th), an unprompted Els, with no media in sight, took time to brighten the day of three seriously disabled military veterans. The golfer was at a waterside bar in Jupiter, FL., Monday when he saw the three men on a docked fishing boat.

One of the men was Josh Schichtl, a veteran of three Iraq tours who’s married with two children. Schichtl lost an eye, facial bones and most of his teeth in a double road-side bombing in Iraq 2007. Most recently, he’s endured eight surgeries and has rehabbed at Walter Reed Army Medical Center for over two years.

Schichtl related the story about Els: Read more…

THE COURSE APPARENTLY BROUGHT ERNIE TO HIS KNEES: The headline of the day comes from Cybergolf.com: