Ernie Els has admitted he is nervous about returning to the course on which he has had more success than any other.
The seven-time winner of the World Match Play at Wentworth Club is one of the men responsible for turning the West Course into one of the most difficult tests to be found anywhere in golf.
After changes added 310 yards and 30 bunkers prior to the 2006 BMW PGA Championship, the latest modifications have altered all 18 greens and the famous par five closing hole now has a wide ditch in front of the green.
“I was quite anxious to get out there,” said the 40 year old South African after flying in from Florida for the European Tour’s flagship tournament, which starts on Thursday.
“Obviously you’re not going to please everybody. You’re going to have questions all over the place and it’s very easy to criticise something. I’m in the hot-seat. I’m the guy the guys can fire at, can throws their arrows at and if guys don’t like it you can listen to what they don’t like. But this is our fifth major over here in Europe and it needs to have a bit of teeth.
“Players may have a little bit of a shock for a while, but they will find a way to score around here. When you master this course now I think you’ll have a lot of confidence going forward, and not be intimidated by any course. The most talk will probably be about 18. We wanted a little bit of drama – with the old green everybody was putting for eagle and it was basically a bit of a soft par five.”
