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the toronto star
Els-Woods the new Palmer-Nicklaus?
Mar. 22, 2003. 01:00 AM
Dave Perkins
ORLANDO, FLA.?Arnold Palmer is just like the rest of us, and and don't say that's because he shoots 80-something at Bay Hill.
Wouldn't we all love to do that from the tips tomorrow, much less at age 73?
No, Palmer thinks he might be seeing what the golf world has been waiting for, a Tiger Woods-Ernie Els showdown.
"It's kind of turning into a script I'd like to see," the King said yesterday and who wouldn't?
Woods is co-operating and Els did his part yesterday, scorching the rain-softened Bay Hill course with a 65, although who knows what this morning's rain-delayed completion of the Bay Hill Invitational's second round will bring.
Els recovered nicely from his botched 74 with a seven-birdie, no-bogey round, a 139 total and a sleeping position one stroke behind Aaron Baddeley for the lead. Jonathan Kaye and Jeff Maggert are each five-under through nine holes of their second round. Baddeley had played merely three holes yesterday and birdied them all and seems to hold the throttle.
Woods was out there somewhere, with 11 holes to play in his second round, in a group of nine players at four under and definitely hunting. We'll know more after they tee off at 7 a.m., but we sure know who was going to sleep better.
Els, the globetrotter who zips around the world as much as any golfer and has a constant jet-lag problem, got all smiley at the prospects of extra sack time.
Woods not only had a 5 a.m. wakeup call, he had home-front issues after girlfriend Elin Nordegren was whisked to hospital during the nearly five-hour rain delay, suffering from what was reported to be food poisoning and/or dehydration. Woods rode the paramedic truck to hospital with her, then got back in plenty of time for his late-afternoon tee-off.
Els, who had stretches of putting like a blacksmith Thursday, three-jacking from four feet at one point, made almost everything yesterday and tossed a dozen one-putt greens. He sunk a 40-footer at the first hole, birdied the first four holes and away he went.
He knows, somewhere out there, that here Tiger comes, but naturally he doesn't want to play this talking game ? and not only because all kinds of good players are right there in the picture.
"It's great for the fans, great for you guys," he said of the matchup everyone wants to see. "For myself, it's just about getting better. My goal is to get to the level I want and I if I get there, I'm going to play a lot with Tiger, because he's on that level.
"If I want to get somewhere in my golf career, I've got to start making sacrifices and then be ready to play golf tournaments when I'm fully prepared. If that means I'm going to play a lot more with Tiger, that will be great."
Notice this guy is being kind of hard on himself here. He has won three major championships, has more money than some countries, is a solid No.2 in the world and he's talking about wanting to get somewhere? Tough league.
Speaking of tough leagues, Palmer and Jack Nicklaus did their reputations no good whatsoever here, shooting 172 and 158, respectively. True, they probably did no damage, since everyone seems to love them and this showing will be quickly forgotten.
They're always welcome, but at some point they must be getting sick of shooting big scores on tough courses, reduced to a nostalgia act against kids one-third their age. Palmer hinted this may be it for him on the big tour and Nicklaus said for him it might be the Masters, that he'll probably make that decision after he gets to Augusta.
It's their call, but here's hoping they make it soon. Then we can start hoping that Woods and Els can be a rivalry as long-lasting and meaningful as Palmer and Nicklaus in their primes.