LOS ANGELES – “Would you be available to play with the president of the United States of America?”
Ernie Els wasn’t the first PGA Tour professional to answer a phone call that began with such a request, but he may have been the most surprised.
Els was sitting at home in South Florida nursing a sore neck after withdrawing from the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am when his phone rang last Friday. It was David Trout, the director of golf at Trump National Golf Club in Jupiter, Fla., with an once-in-a-lifetime request.
“Bang, there goes my hair again,” Els smiles as he glances down at his arm and the byproduct of lingering chills.