Els to Restrict Schedule, Focus on Majors

Now back to some news on the course.

Ernie Els has said on his website that he plans to scale back his Gary Player styled schedule even further this year in an attempt to focus on the major championships and win the career Grand Slam.

I'm 38 and I need to think about me and how I can give myself the best chance to add to the three Majors that I've already won. The biggest single goal that I have left in this game is to win the career grand slam – to win all four Majors at least once – before I'm done. It's important I do everything in my power to make that goal achievable.

My schedule looks a little different to previous years. This reflects my desire to try to gear my game around the Majors and the other big tournaments.

The report indicates that Els will not start his season in '08 until Dubai at the end of the month. He has already entered the Honda Classic on the PGA Tour and that will kick off his year in the States.

Here's my question. What will NOT playing do to help Ernie? You can certainly throw out the Tiger/Nicklaus theory that playing a schedule in an attempt to peak at the right time produces majors. The problem with that theory is that Els has not been at his peak for years. His last major was in 2002. His last Tour win was in 2004 - before his knee injury in 2005. He played in 18 PGA Tour and 8 Euro Tour events in 2006, 15 PGA Tour and 11 European Tour 2007 - 26 combined each year. Still no wins.

Should he play more, but on one Tour?