Why is Ernie Els dead last after two rounds in Dubai?

It's no surprise that Ernie Els is dead last after two rounds of the European tour's season-ending big-money bonanza, the Dubai World Championship. Els, whose four-over 148 (74-74) leaves him 15 shots off the lead, must be wiped out from globetrotting, which may also be a big reason why he's been majorless since taking the 2002 British Open and winless for five years on the PGA Tour.

Most big-time pros routinely crisscross the globe in search of trophies and dollars, but Els logs so many thousands of miles that his travel schedule stands out even among his peers. Take Els's November as an example. Two weeks ago, he played in China at the HSBC Champions before jetting to his home outside London to work on the redesign at Wentworth and see his wife and two children. (They were there on holiday from their new home base in Florida.) Now Els is in Dubai; he must feel like a zombie.

I often read the weekly diary entries at Els's website, and it's amazing to read about his travels. He's like Marco Polo for most of the year, hopschotching between tournaments, course-development projects and sponsor outings. I can't fault him; Els knows what he's doing. I might perpetually be on the road too if I could earn money like he does. Still, I would not expect Els to return to the old Ernie, the one who consistently contended in majors and won Tour events, until he dramatically scales back his travel schedule.

Fighting words at BMW Championship

I don't know how it played on TV, but the final round of the BMW was a blast to cover. While Tiger was doing his thing, I was running around Cog Hill tracking the tournament-within-a-tournament, as various players were throwing up on themselves trying to play their way into the Tour Championship.

Stewart Cink made sizeable par putts on three of his final four holes and then punched his ticket to Atlanta with a 15-footer for birdie on the ninth, his last hole of the day. Asked how it compared to the back-nine pressure at Turnberry, he said, somewhat amazingly, "Actually, I felt a little bit more nervous coming in here than I did there because there I felt like I had nothing to lose and everything to gain, and here I felt like I had everything to lose."

Luke Donald played his final 14 holes in four over par and was a precarious 30th in the projected points standings as he stepped off the golf course. Fearing he might get bumped, his wife Diane said, "I'm going to go home and hide all the sharp objects!" In the end Donald squeaked in.

So, too, did Steve Marino (right), the talented third-year pro who might be the best player on Tour without a victory. He came into the week 26th in points and appeared to have shot himself out of the Tour Championship with a second-round 77 at the BMW. But he rallied with a solid 68-71 on the weekend to finish 25th in the points race.

"I just tried to hang in there and overcome the demons," Marino said in his endearingly candid way. This will be Marino's first Tour Championship, and he's overdue for a little exposure. Last fall he was chatting up Ernie Els at a bar when Easy asked, completely seriously, what Marino did for a living.

"I said I play the PGA Tour just like you do, Ernie," Marino said on Sunday, recounting the tale. With a laugh, he crowed, "And now I'm about to pass your ass on the money list!" In fact, Marino is $8,118 in arrears of Els, who now has one more reason to play hard at East Lake.

Photo: Scott Halleran/Getty Images

Las Vegas has Woods as huge favorite to win British Open

For bettors who like value, this year's British Open is like Christmas morning, according to Las Vegas sportsbook insider Chuck Esposito.

Tiger Woods, currently at 2 to 1 at Las Vegas casino sportsbooks, is the favorite by a wide, wide margin. If you think Woods will win, Esposito says you should grab him now. "Those odds will drop pretty quickly," Esposito said. "My guess is Tiger will be at 8 to 5, 6 to 5, or even before the British Open starts."

The odds are so skewed toward Woods--especially with his only near rival, Phil Mickelson, not competing at Turnberry this year--that the next player on the board, Sergio Garcia, is a 12-to-1 bet to win. Other contenders drop even further: Defending champion Padraig Harrington is 20 to 1, Henrik Stenson is 20 to 1, Paul Casey is 20 to 1, Rory McIlroy is 25 to 1, Geoff Ogilvy is 25 to 1, Ian Poulter is 25 to 1, Ernie Els is 35 to 1.

"There's real value there in players in that 20 to 40 group," Esposito said. "In fact, with those short odds, the house ends up rooting for Tiger because if one of those long shots come in the casino can really get burned."

The house also ends up rooting for Woods because he creates excitement around the casino when he's near the top at a major, Esposito said.

"We do really well at all the majors, and we'll have the British Open on all the big screens," Esposito said. "But if Tiger's in the lead, we get tremendous crowds."

The only real competitor to Tiger Woods on the board in Las Vegas is "The Field," currently at 8 to 5 odds. Keep in mind that "the Field," in the form of Lucas Glover, won the U.S. Open and paid off at 10 to 1.

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Can Ernie Els keep it going in Round 2 of the Verizon Heritage?

Ernie, Ernie, Ernie. What's the deal with you? You missed the cut last week at the Masters, and you come to the Low Country -- Hilton Head Island, S.C. -- and suddenly you're the Big Easy again. Three under in Round 1 and I'm looking and the guess here is that you'll go lower in Round 2.

The Boomeister beat you here down the stretch with some crazy hole-outs, but this could be a week for you to win again for the first time since last year's Honda. Really, you're better than that, Ernie. Phil missed the cut in Houston but then had a memorable Masters. He said he wasn't really trying to win Houston, he was trying to get ready for the Masters by playing high shots, which were a disaster in the high winds of Houston.

Anyway, we'll take your good golf where we can get it, and if it's a week after a major, so be it. But really, Ernie, you're better than this. Here's hoping we see the real Ernie on Friday, and that it sets up a good weekend on one of the loveliest courses the Tour goes to all year.

Forget Orlando, smart PGA Tour pros live in Scottsdale

You'll hear a lot next week about the many Tour pros that call Orlando home (Tiger Woods, Ernie Els and Trevor Immelman) as the locals play in the Tavistock Cup, which pits Isleworth Country Club against neighboring Lake Nona Country Club. It's easy to understand why Tour pros like Orlando (no state income tax, nice weather, good transportation, private gated communities for the super-wealthy, no state income tax), but the smart guys are in Scottsdale, Ariz. Whisper Rock club members (Geoff Ogilvy, Paul Casey and Aaron Baddeley) would probably welcome a shot at the Tavistock Cup winner. Phil Mickelson's a Whisper Rock member too, though he now call Rancho Sante Fe -- north of San Diego -- home.***

Having spent time in both Orlando and Scottsdale this winter, I can say without question that if I were a wealthy tour pro, Best Buy would be delivering my 103-inch plasma TVs to Scottsdale. Orlando is a great place, if you're a 10-year-old, but Scottsdale has nicer restaurants, better nightlife and a much higher concentration of beautiful women. It's really one of the country's hot-chick meccas, along with Miami, Los Angeles and certain areas of Manhattan. Don't believe me? Just ask Paul Casey, who explained his own move to Scottsdale from the UK -- a hot chick dead zone if there ever was one -- at a news conference Wednesday.

I felt very lucky to eventually end up at [Arizona State University], which is a long story, which we won't get into. But there were a few friends of mine who had played college golf. One of them said that Scottsdale was the greatest place he had ever been, which eventually I got the chance to visit it; I could see why, for the golf, the weather and all of the other assets. (Laughter) What? I said assets.

***The Rancho Sante Fe-Del Mar region of Southern California, where Phil lives, is one of the nicest places I've ever seen, but Phil pays a premium to live there. California's state income tax for earnings of more than $40,346 is 9.3 percent. Arizona residents are taxed 5.03 percent on income of more than $150,000.

Here come the old guys

KAPALUA, Hawaii -- For all the talk of young guns Anthony Kim and Camilo Villegas heading into the season-opening Mercedes Championship, the leaderboard after round one was more notable for its familiar, veteran names.

There's Kenny Perry, 48, who had three wins last year and says he's liable to run off another two or three in a row. He shot a 5-under-par 68 despite two loose front-nine bogeys and lurks a shot behind leader Geoff Ogilvy.   

"You know what, y'all may think I'm crazy," Perry said before the tournament began, "but I want to get 20 wins. I've got 12. Somehow I've got to win eight more times. I turn 50 in a year and a half. And is that a realistic goal? I think it is. I still think I can play well up into my mid-50s and be successful out here."

Tied with Perry was his playing partner Ernie Els, who is only 39 but already answering questions about the impending "big 4-0" next October. Els looked like his old self Thursday, the guy who won his first major back in 1994.

Then there's Davis Love III a shot back. He's 44. Joining Love at 4-under was Steve Lowery, 48. Ronald Reagan was in the White House when Love turned pro in 1985. The now pathetic San Francisco 49ers actually ruled the NFL. (It's true. Look it up.)

"I want to make Freddie's Presidents Cup team and get back to being competitive in the majors," Love said. "I had a taste of it at the British where I felt like I was close. And then, you know, I want to make it to the Tour Championship. I didn't make it to the Tour Championship the last couple of years, and I want to play for the FedExCup. Been kind of boring watching other guys play for it (laughter)."

When it comes to his career outlook, Love sounds a whole lot like Perry, who caught fire in his 40s and, not surprisingly, says he takes inspiration from Vijay Singh (46 next month).

"Somebody, I guess in the pro-am [Wednesday], said, 'The way you are hitting it, you could play out here for ten more years,'" Love said. "I said, 'Yeah, exactly.' That's what I want to do. I want to stay on this Tour competitive longer than anybody of my generation. I want to keep on playing."

And from whom does Love take inspiration? That would be his mother Penta, who followed him on foot for every shot of his round Thursday, despite the fact that Kapalua's Plantation Course, built into the side of the West Maui Mountains, is the undisputed hilliest, hardest walk on the PGA Tour. She's 83.

'Big Easy' predicts tough times for PGA Tour

Count Ernie Els as another PGA Tour star looking toward Europe in 2009, where top players like Anthony Kim and maybe even Phil Mickelson are already drooling over the European Tour’s $20 million “Race to Dubai."

Els also sounded a cautionary note about the PGA Tour’s stiff-upper-lip approach to the economic downturn: If everything’s OK, then where is the 2009 schedule?

Coming off another disappointing season following his 2005 knee surgery, Els told the AFP news service that he hopes better day are in store for him in 2009, including a long-sought Masters win. However, he doesn’t see good times ahead for the PGA Tour.

Els said he would play a little bit more in Europe because he believes that the US Tour in particular could suffer from the credit crunch.

"The US-Tour schedule is normally out at this time of the year but it is not yet out, it hasn't been printed yet. Some of the events might be under threat, a couple of tournaments might not take place," he said.

"These are very, very difficult times at the moment and probably to the next year."

Els looks to next major after Open woes

SOUTHPORT, England — As he stood by the 18th green at Royal Birkdale on Sunday, Ernie Els admitted that he lost any chance of winning a second British Open title three days earlier, on Thursday afternoon.

That was when the 2002 Open champion covered the last nine holes of the first round in an abysmal 45 strokes for a round of 80, his worst ever score in his favorite major championship.

"I played myself out of the tournament, going nine over in nine holes," Els said. "How do you come back from that?"

You don't. But Els gave a good account of himself nonetheless. It's a testament to the South African's resilience that he might still find himself inside the top ten by day's end. On Sunday Els shot a one-under-par 69, the second time he has broken par in brutal winds since his horrific first round. He made two birdies against just one bogey to finish at 12 over, good enough to tie for seventh.

"At least I managed to break par twice. I can look forward to the next major," Els said. "I'm doing quite a few things right. It was just a battle out there. It's been a tough week but at least I gave it my best shot."

Els will go to Las Vegas to work with coach Butch Harmon in advance of next month's PGA Championship at Oakland Hills near Detroit, an event he has never won. "I've got one major left and I'm going to work my tail off," Els said. "I'll go and see Butch this week and sort out all the doubts I have in my technique. Then hopefully I'll be able to really compete."

"I'll get ready for the next one," he added. "It's a good thing it's in two weeks time."

Angry Els Rues Missed Chance at Open

SOUTHPORT, England—This Open Championship has turned into Groundhog Day for Ernie Els—different day, same story. Saturday marked the third straight day that the South African has walked off the 18th green at Royal Birkdale with his frustrations boiling over.

On Thursday he signed for an opening round of 80, his worst ever in the British Open. Yesterday he bogeyed the last to fall to 9-over-par for the week, causing him to angrily slam his putter into his bag and also slam the door of the scorer's hut. Today Els signed for a round of 74 and admitted that his chances of winning a second Open crown had been all but blown away in the strong winds.

"I said this morning if I could break par or stay where I was I would be maybe four off [the lead]," Els said. "I think if you're four, five, six over you still have a chance to win."

Finishing two hours before the leaders teed off, Els stood a seemingly insurmountable 14 strokes off the lead held by K.J. Choi.

The 2002 Open winner blamed his woes this week on a sloppy short game and announced that he's heading to Las Vegas to work with coach Butch Harmon. "It's been a frustrating week on the greens, and when you're not making putts it's more frustrating. There's been a lot of missed opportunities, a lot of missed putts," he said.

"I'm going to see [Harmon] for two days in Vegas and work on the short game and get it sharp. I think I'll start scoring then as it's been a tough year up to now."

Since winning the Honda Classic in March, Els has posted just two top-10 finishes, a T-6 at the Players Championship and a T-9 at last week's Barclay's Scottish Open.

(Photos: Jon Super/AP)

Open cut relief for some, cruel for others

SOUTHPORT, England — Friday is the cruelest day in major championship golf. Tonight half the field earned a passport to the weekend and a shot at winning the British Open. Everyone else will be handing over their passport as they check in for the flight home.

The low 70 players and ties will play the weekend at Royal Birkdale. That puts 83 players inside the cut line at 9-over-par.

Among those breathing a sigh of relief is Ernie Els, who made bogey on his last hole earlier today to fall to 9-over. The easy-going South African slammed his putter angrily into his bag as he walked off the green, then slammed the door of the scorer's hut after signing for a round of 69. Also surviving at that 9-over mark are Davis Love III and England's hope, Lee Westwood.

Phil Mickelson secured his place for the weekend with a second-round 69 that left him at 7-over. Masters champion Trevor Immelman and Colin Montgomerie are also assured to a weekend tee time at 8-over.

For others there will be no reprieve. Stewart Cink and Tom Watson (both 10-over) are finished. Joining them on the boulevard of missed birdie putts are Vijay Singh, Geoff Ogilvy,  Mark O'Meara and Charles Howell III, all at 11-over. Former U.S. Open winner Angel Cabrera and Rory Sabbatini missed by a mile at 14-over.

Also missing the weekend action is former champion Paul Lawrie, Miguel Angel Jiminez, Aaron Baddeley, and a handful of young American prospects: Brandt Snedeker, Hunter Mahan, and J.B. Holmes.

In a category all of his own, dead last in the field, is John Daly. The former champion-turned-train wreck finished 29-over par after rounds of 80-89. He didn't make a single birdie all week. And there isn't even a Hooters in Birkdale for him to spend the weekend in.