NOTEBOOK

ST. ANDREWS – What’s Ernie Els to do?

Els, who tied with Thomas Bjorn for second at the 129th British Open at 11-under after his final-round 70, has now finished runner-up in the last two majors to Tiger Woods. He, too, finished second at the Masters.

“I’ve never done that in my life,” Els said. “I guess I could have played as good as I could this week and I still wasn’t going to win. Even if I played as good as I could, I don’t think I would have gotten it to 20-under like Tiger.”

Els’ performance, coupled with David Duval’s collapse from second place to 11th with trouble on No. 17, did advance him in the World Ranking standings from third to second, leap-frogging Duval.

Had Duval finished second or third he would have remained at No. 2.

Woods, of course, solidified his No. 1 ranking. He has a 27.26 points average, while Els is at 11.11 and Duval 10.99.

“I have to play really well [to win] and he has to have a mediocre week,” Els said.

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Some incredible facts about Woods:

He’s missed only one cut in his professional career, which began in 1996 and has included more than 100 tournaments worldwide.

There are 112 bunkers on the Old Course. Woods, in four rounds of the Open, was not in a single one of them.

“A bunker?” Woods asked. “I was in a bunker every day I’ve been here, but it was in practice.”

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For the second major in a row, Woods’ father, Earl, was not in attendance, staying home and watching the tournament on TV. Woods was asked what he’ll say to his dad when they next speak.

“I’m just going to call him up and say, ‘What’s up? How are you doing? Are you feeling all right? And, did you sleep through it or did you watch it?'”

Woods’ mother, Tida, and his girlfriend, Joanna Jagoda, were present all week.

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Colin Montgomerie, Europe’s greatest hope to win the British Open, went out quietly on the golf course again … and acrimoniously off it. Montgomerie, who finished tied for 26th, is still searching for his first major.

Asked after his round about his reflections on the tournament week, Montgomerie grew testy, saying, “I’ve just finished by round, you know. It’s very difficult to ask someone their reflections on a week like this after he’s just finished his round. I think it’s quite an unfair question to ask at this stage. Give me a week or a month and I’ll come back to you on it.”