Els puts his faith in a star Player

Ernie Els was only four when Gary Player won the Open Championship at Royal Lytham & St Annes in 1974. Player won his third Open by four strokes from Peter Oosterhuis, but the South African has no recollection of it.

"I've seen some flashbacks," he said, "but I didn't see it at the time." Watching the Open had a place in the young Els's sporting education; it was secondary to actually playing his rugby, cricket, tennis and, from the age of nine, golf. "I remember seeing most of the Tom Watson victories," he added.

Els also caught the Seve Ballesteros-Nick Price duel at Lytham in 1988, but has never played at the Lancashire links. He has, though, been doing his homework. "I don't really know much about Lytham, apart from what I have read in a few golf magazines. I have spoken to a few players like Sam Torrance, and I'm hoping to catch up with Gary Player and play a couple of practice rounds with him this week. He obviously knows the place pretty well."

What Player once was to South African golf, Els is now. "He had a great influence on my career," said Els. In 1992, the Kid from Kempton Park (Johannesburg branch) became the first man to match Player's feat of winning the South African Open, the South African PGA and the South African Masters in the same season. "I never knew Gary while I was growing up," Els said. "The first time I met him was in 1992 . . . we all looked up at Gary, he was really the driving force of South African sport. He managed to keep us on the sporting map when we couldn't play in a number of countries."

When asked about the inevitable comparison between himself and Player, Els usually replies: "Let's compare wallets." Or major titles. Even if you discount the extras that Player likes to count up, like Seniors tour majors, and obscure national Opens, his official tally of nine is three more than Nick Faldo's six, let alone Els's sole US Open in 1994.

Els has a remarkable record in major championships as a professional. Four of his first six produced top-10 finishes. He was fifth in the 1992 Open at Muirfield, and learnt from playing with the would-be champion John Cook in the final round, and he was sixth a year later at Sandwich. His seventh major as a pro produced that play-off win at Oakmont over Loren Roberts and Colin Montgomerie.

The reaction that win received suggested this was only the start. "I think I've just played with the next god," Curtis Strange remarked. Even the laid-back Els found the attention difficult to handle. His next two majors produced middling results, then he missed the cut in the first two of 1995, when he was settling in to life on the US tour.

Els got back into his stride with an 11th place at the Open at St Andrews last year, and then he led going into the final round of the USPGA, before falling behind the Steve Elkington-Montgomerie play-off. Twelfth in the Masters in April, Els was fifth in the US Open, having crashed out of the lead with a double- bogey six at the 16th hole on the Saturday. Analysing his major performances is part of Els's secret.

"I was playing quite solidly, but the change was at 15 when I three- putted from only about 18 feet," Els recalled. "I got really angry walking to the 16th tee. I took the three-wood instead of taking a two-iron, which would have been fine. I didn't make a good swing, and then one fault led to another." Having put his tee-shot out to the left, he hit an attempted recovery which found water. "I went for the wrong shot. I should have gone for a six-iron around the tree instead of over the tree.

"There are little mental errors which keep creeping into my game, but I still had a good US Open. On the Sunday, although I was always three or four strokes behind, I had this feeling that I could always get it into red numbers. I thought it would be a good target and I wasn't too far off. I missed three putts, on 11, 13 and 16, I mean, from inside six feet. If I could have made those, I could have been there. Ifs and buts, you know, don't count in this game."

Since returning to Europe, where he played regularly between 1992 and 1994, Els, the world No 5, has consulted Bob Torrance, the coaching father of Sam. "Before last week, I had had two weeks off since the US Open and I was a bit rusty. I felt that my swing wasn't very good and I saw Bob and asked if he could have a look at my swing. It's nothing major, but the things he told me about my swing made sense."

The first two rounds of the Scottish Open were a fierce re-introduction to links golf and Els thought Carnoustie had beaten him until the cut rose to include his nine-over-par score. That allowed two more days' acclimatisation to the conditions he will experience this week. "You have to get used it. I haven't played links golf since last year."

That means keeping the ball low in the wind, and realising that a hole that plays two-iron, five-iron one day, cannot be reached with two drivers the next. "I think I've got the game to win the Open. I've had some good Opens and that gives you a lot of confidence, but it is a new week. You just have to start from the first hole and try to keep it going."

And if not Els, who else? "Faldo is the danger man. There are so many - Norman, Nick Price, Steve Jones who won the US Open. There are so many guys, it is so hard to pick one. Even Seve. You never know. He might find the magic. He's won there twice, so maybe." It appears the man has a soft heart like the rest of us.