Els is a Quitter, Too

Ernie Els has WD'd from the Deutsche Bank Championship this week. He has gone to his London home to spend time with his family before his kids start school. Here's the statement off of his official website, ErnieEls.com:

I was originally scheduled to play in this week's Deutsche Bank at TPC Boston, but I have made the decision to withdraw due to family reasons. Basically, I have been on the road now for almost eight weeks and I felt it was important that I return home to Wentworth this week where my children will be preparing for their return to school. I obviously regret having to miss such a prestigious and important tournament as the Deutsche Bank, and I wish everybody there an enjoyable and successful week.

Clearly, this is another in a series of BS excuses. Ernie could have stopped at "I have been on the road now for almost eight weeks." He also didn't have to throw in the fact that he is a father. And, lastly, he doesn't have to miss the Deutsche Bank. Rather, he is choosing to do so on his own.


Tiger fed the press this same type of lame excuse last week when he opted to not enter the Barclays. It is easy to see through, but maybe that is the intent of the messge. Perhaps Woods, and now Els, want to send a message to the PGA Tour that these Playoffs are not nearly as important as the Tour would like. The large $10 million deffered annuity and the rather large 1st place check is not enough of a lure either to stay out on the road and keep playing.


It could also just be that Els simply does not think he can win the FedEx Cup, so why bother? Els is currently in 10th position on the points listing - just about 8,000 behind leader Steve Stricker. That is not a dramatic deficit and is certainly possible to eliminate with a victory in Boston. But, the shifts for guys in the top 20 on the points list were not that huge if they finished in the top 20 in the Barclays. Perhaps Els ran the numbers and thought it was just too much to clear 9 other guys (including Tiger, who counts for 50 guys). Speaking of Tiger, Els may have noticed that Tiger has a great record at TPC Boston, Cog Hill, and East Lake. Comparatively, Els has never had a start at the Deutsche Bank and hasn't started at Cog Hill since 1995 (MC).


I guess for Els, then, he may as well give up in advance, right?