So the interest level was not as high for the WGC-American Express Championship in Ireland as it might have been, and it dipped even more when several players, including Vijay Singh and Phil Mickelson, withdrew. On top of all that, it looked like Tiger Woods was on the verge of withdrawing because of an injury, plus a storm was going to blow into the area over the weekend. It didn't look like the event was going to live up to its hype.

In a way, it was a lot like Ernie Els's season. When the South African won the Sony Open in Hawaii in January and then the Heineken Classic in Australia a couple of weeks later, it looked like Els was going to be a force to reckon with in 2004. Els went on to have a very good year, but he was a shot shy here and a shot shy there from it being an awesome year. Els lost a playoff to Todd Hamilton at the British Open and was a shot back of Mickelson at the Masters and Singh at the PGA Championship. He even had a great chance to win the U.S. Open, being paired in the final group with Retief Goosen, but he shot an 80 in the final round.

You could understand why Els was a little out of sorts after the PGA Championship, as all of these close calls can play on a golfer's mind. So the timing was perfect for the American Express Championship and for Ernie Els. They both needed some good things to happen, and that's exactly what did happen.

KEYS TO VICTORY

Ernie Els: Earlier in the week, Els admitted that failing to win at least one major championship in 2004 had gotten him down for a spell. But he realized that he had to move on from that and conquer any self-doubt that was in his mind. He had to play well and not make any mistakes, and that was exactly what he did in Ireland.

Els played superbly, hitting 72.2% of the greens in regulation. However, where Els really excelled was on and around the greens. Of the 20 greens he missed, he got it up and down 17 times, tops in the field. On the greens, Els putted great, averaging 27 putts per round, tying for No. 1 in the field. When the poor weather came in, Els was able to control the situation, shooting 68-69 in the foul weather on the weekend. Els was one of only two players to break 70 all four rounds.

The victory gave the Els his first three-victory year on the PGA Tour and pushed his career total to 15 wins. It also moved him past Tiger Woods to No. 2 in the World Ranking and to No. 3 on the money list, narrowly trailing Phil Mickelson. This victory can never make up for not winning a major championship, but Els can take a huge positive out of this for the rest of the year and lay the groundwork for 2005.

The first order of business for him is the catch Vijay Singh and become No. 1 in the world. "It's nice, but I'm still No. 2," he said to laughter after the final round. "I've been chasing Tiger for the last five or six years, and now I have to chase Vijay who has won eight times this year and I've won four, so it's interesting." At this point, Els's 5-year-old daughter Samantha, who was sitting on his lap, raised a finger to indicate No. 1 and then pointed at herself.

Can Ernie overtake Vijay for the top ranking before the end of the year? Mathematically, yes. It won't happen in the next two weeks, but if Ernie wins the Dunhill Links Championship this week and then the World Match Play next week he could have a chance to pass Vijay at Disney. But that is a lot of ifs.

Els's stats (with rank in parentheses):

Fairways hit: 32 of 56     (T62nd)
Driving average: 278.4     (2nd)
Greens hit: 52 of 72     (T11th)
Putts: 108 (27.00 a rd)     (T1st)
Putting breakdown:
0 putt greens: 1
1 putt greens: 34
2 putt greens: 37
3 putt greens: 
Eagles: 0     
Birdies: 21     (T1st)
Scrambling: 17 of 20 (85.0%) (1st)

Scrambling measures how many times a player gets up and down for par or better on the holes where he missed the green in regulation.

WHY THEY DIDN'T WIN

Thomas Bjorn: If you thought that Els had a lot of demons to exorcise, just think about those that have been haunting Bjorn. After his double bogey on the 16th hole at Royal St. George's in the 2003 British Open that gave the championship to Ben Curtis, Bjorn fell into a funk. It wasn't like his game wasn't sharp; it was his mental outlook that wasn't sharp. The following week, Bjorn again had problems closing the deal in Ireland and for the second event in a row was runner-up. Later in the season, he finished T3rd in Hong Kong and T2nd at the Johnnie Walker, but things got worse after that. Eventually, it got to the point where Bjorn disappeared from the game for five weeks after this year's British Open.

Bjorn regrouped by thinking about what he wanted to do with his game. He was a vice captain for the European Ryder Cup team, and that, along with all of the support he received from friends, got him thinking in the right direction about playing well again. Bjorn is enjoying the game again, and it showed at the American Express . His iron game was very sharp, as he hit 59 of 72 greens in regulation, the best in the field. More importantly, he hung tight in some very tough weather conditions. He may not have won this time around, but he has laid some serious groundwork for the future. I wouldn't be surprised to see him winning before the year is out.

Bjorn's stats (with rank in parentheses):

Fairways hit: 44 of 56     (T8th)
Driving average: 266.4     (18th)
Greens hit: 59 of 72     (T1st)
Putts: 118 (29.50 a rd)     (T38th)
Putting breakdown:
0 putt greens: 0
1 putt greens: 28
2 putt greens: 42
3 putt greens: 2
Eagles: 1     
Birdies: 18     (T5th)
Scrambling: 11 of 13 (84.6%)  (2nd)

Tiger Woods: Tiger's run at a possible three-peat in the American Express was hindered by an injury. He arrived in Ireland with back and shoulder pain after sleeping wrong on it the previous week on a plane ride home from New York. For a time, it looked like Woods wasn't going to be able to play, but he gutted it out on Thursday and shot a 68.

So the big question was, if Tiger could shoot 68 when it looked like he was hurting on every shot, what could he do when healthy? The pain subsided over the next couple of days, but his scores didn't improve. He putted very well on Thursday, taking 27 putts while hitting 13 greens in regulation, but he missed four short putts on Friday in shooting a 70 (hitting 13 greens again but this time taking 30 putts) to fall five behind Els. He never got any closer as he posted two more 70s on the weekend to finish in 9th place.

You have to give Tiger credit. He does give his all no matter what the circumstances are, and he showed it again last week. However, this season will be a very forgettable one for him. For the first time in his professional career, Woods has gone over a year without a stroke-play victory, as his last such victory was in this event a year ago. He did win the Accenture Match Play Championship early in 2004, and he has finished in the top 10 in 13 of his 18 PGA Tour starts. But top 10s don't cut it for Tiger, as he and his fans expect nothing short of winning.

Woods's stats (with rank in parentheses):

Fairways hit: 30 of 56     (65th)
Driving average: 278.0     (4th)
Greens hit: 48 of 72     (T25th)
Putts: 110 (27.50 a rd)     (4th)
Putting breakdown:
0 putt greens: 1
1 putt greens: 34
2 putt greens: 35
3 putt greens: 2
Eagles: 0     
Birdies: 17     (T8th)
Scrambling: 18 of 24 (75.0%)  (T8th)

SOUTHERN FARM BUREAU CLASSIC

It's funny how much Fred Funk is out of his element in some events. The Ryder Cup was a perfect example. Funk just isn't Fred Funk in some places, and for him it's not the big events. He has played well in some of them, an example being the 2002 PGA Championship at Hazeltine where he finished in a tie for fourth, but Funk's level is more the Southern Farm Bureau Classic, which he won on Sunday for his first victory since 1998. Since the start of 1999, he had earned $9.64 million without a victory, an amount so large that it would place him 54th on the all-time PGA Tour money list.

Funk is kind of the "King of the Bs." He would rather be playing in the B.C. Open than the British Open. He may never admit it, but I wouldn't be surprised if he was more comfortable on the fairways in Madison, Mississippi than the fairways of Ireland. Funk now has won six times on the PGA Tour, and five of them have come in events in which Tiger Woods has never played. Funk plays great in the Shell Houston Opens, the B.C. Opens, and the Southern Farm Bureaus, and we should just leave it at that.

At 48 years old, Funk is the oldest PGA Tour winner this year. With him being about 20 months away from joining the Champions Tour, I think he can be a dominant player on that tour.

Funk's stats (with rank in parentheses):

Fairways hit: 44 of 56     (5th)
Driving average: 276.4     (63rd)
Greens hit: 62 of 72     (3rd)
Putts: 114 (28.50 a rd)     (T18th)
Putting breakdown:
0 putt greens: 0
1 putt greens: 33
2 putt greens: 36
3 putt greens: 3
Eagles: 1     
Birdies: 24     (T3rd)
Scrambling: 9 of 10 (90.0%)  (2nd)