Thursday, 19th July 2007 at 10:21 am

Ernie Els in the mix?

Every time we’re ready to write him off… It’s been a largely troubled time on the golf course for the easy-swinging face of the South African game, since his now infamous knee injury after a tumble from a jet ski. Although he came back to win the dunhill championship shortly afterwards, and saw off Trevor Immelman at Humewood last Christmas for the South African Airways Open, golf’s most avid debate in South Africa has been this: is the best of Ernie Els behind him?

It’s no new debate, certainly, but rises powerfully to the fore this week on the back of Els missing the play-off in last week’s Scottish Open by a single shot. Suddenly the relaxed majesty of the man was back, and now, as play begins at Carnoustie for this year’s Open Championship, Els is suddenly amongst the talked about players, a genuine contender once again.

Els’s talent has never been in doubt; the muttered questions have alluded to his drive, his passion, how much he still really wanted to win. Third place in the Scottish Open doesn’t completely silence those swirling suggestions, but it does go a considerable way to suggesting that Els is primed for a genuine assault on Carnoustie. The South African challenge looks strong, with Richard Sterne and Charl Schwartzel in fine form; a firing, determined Ernie Els, however, is another golfer althogether. Maybe, just maybe…