With very little fanfare here in the U.S., Ernie Els will make his first appearance in over 4 months this weekend at the Nedbank Challenge in South Africa - formerly the Million Dollar Challenge - after being off to recuperate from a knee injury suffered while sailing. Funny, I didn’t know that sailing was a contact sport. But I digress.

Ernie birdied his first hole in his first practice round this week to get off to a rousing start but admittedly struggled with the knee towards the end of the round. There was some swelling and who knows if he will even be able to complete the four round tournament. Sounds like lots of ice and a trainer will be necessary for a while. And I certainly wouldn’t expect a stellar performance this soon after a major injury like that.

It is his mental state that interests me right now. After that practice round he said what appears to be all the right things - that he’s done some soul-searching during the last four months and appreciates what he’s done so far, but expects to play his very best golf over the next 5-10 years. I wonder how much of that is coming from his guts and how much of that is coming from his mental guru Jos Von Stiphout.

I hope that first, he returns to full health and second, that he brings his most intense passion to preparing for the upcoming trials of this next decade. He will need it if he hopes to be labeled one of the greatest ever to play the game.

For the next 5 years at least, Ernie is playing for his place in history. Up until now, virtually all of the greatest have had their best years after they turned 30. The good news is that Ernie is only 35 years old.

The bad news is that Tiger Woods is about to turn 30 and could only just now be approaching his prime.

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