'I had a lot of confidence in the driver' – Inside Ernie Els' bag of wins at Firestone
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Ernie Els lifted his first major championship trophy at the Kaulig Companies Championship on Sunday – and he was very pleased with his driver's performance.
Els finished the week at 10-under 270 at Firestone after closing with a final-round, 2-under-par 68. He held off South Korea's YE Yang (66 Sunday) by one stroke.
Despite missing out on several occasions, the former South African World No.1 has yet to make it to the senior level. During his Hall of Fame career, he won two US Opens and two Open Championships.
Els had finished in the top five at the last four Kaulig Companies tournaments (formerly known as the Senior Players Championship) and had previously finished in the top ten at the top eleven majors.
“I just watched Steve (Stricker) do it a few years ago from out here. He was a man, he and Bernhard (Langer) and other guys,” said Els on Golf Channel radio.
“I still like to work on my game. I try to keep fit. … it's still fun, just (trying) to improve.”
For many years, Firestone was home to the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, a prestigious PGA Tour event, until it was chosen to host the Kaulig Companies Championship.
Els has never won on that course in all his years as a professional and in many visits.
“This has been happening for a long time. On this golf course, 32 years ago I started playing here … but I never got a win here, so this was really good,” said Els.
Els fired his final drive of the tournament straight into the field and said his XXIO 13 Driver has served him well over the years.
“I've been trying to hit that hard all week,” said Els.
“The whole day, I was driving it well. So I trusted the driver so much, I had to pull out the gun. I hit it down the left and it was perfect.”
What's in Ernie Els' bag?
DRIVER: XXIO 13 Driver, 8.7 degrees, Project X HZRDUS Smoke Black RDX 60 TX shaft
FAIRWAY WOOD: XXIO X 3-wood, 14 degrees, EvenFlow Blue 6.5 85x shaft
INSTRUMENTS: 2-5 – Srixon ZX Mk II utility irons with KBS S-taper 130X shaft | 6-9 – Srixon ZX7 Mk II shafts with KBS S-taper 130X shaft
WEDGES: Cleveland RTX 6 ZipCore Tour Rack wedges 52MB, 56MB, 60LB and KBS S taper 130X
PUTTER: Bloodline Golf
BALLS: Srixon Z Star XV (yellow)
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