ST. ANDREWS, Scotland – Of the 20 former winners of the British Open who’ll compete in this year’s 144th edition at the Old Course, only Ernie Els passed up on an invite to the champions’ dinner Tuesday evening.
But there was good reason.
Els said he called Peter Dawson, chief executive of the R&A, and explained his situation. “I’ve got this (right) hip thing. I’ve been struggling with it since early May,” Els said.
Having spent the last two weeks on a family vacation in Croatia, Els said he hadn’t hit many golf balls and came back and went at it pretty hard Monday and Tuesday.