ERIN, Wis. — Ernie Els’s results the past several months had not exactly filled him with self-belief heading into his 25th United States Open. But on Thursday morning, Els’s father sent him a photograph that put him in a positive frame of mind before his opening round at Erin Hills Golf Club.
Taken 20 years earlier, the image showed Els; his wife, Liezl; and his parents posing with the United States Open trophy that he won at Congressional Country Club. Els said he stared at the photograph and marveled at the player he was then, the person he is now and how quickly two decades have flown by.