June 12, 2003	Thursday	Rabi-us-Sani 11, 1424

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OLYMPIA FIELDS, Illinois, June 11; Twice U.S. Open winner Ernie Els has suffered from the ‘Tiger factor’ during major championships but is confident he can play his own game at Olympia Fields Country Club this week.

“Tiger (Woods) is number one in the world, so it depends on how your motivation goes,” world number two Els told a news conference on Tuesday after playing a practice round with fellow major winners Nick Price and Vijay Singh and emerging American force Charles Howell III.

“Some guys want to motivate in certain ways, and I’m sure the younger guys come out and they want to beat Tiger.

“Tiger is going to beat us 70 percent of the time, so in that way they’re right. But other times he’s not there, so you’ve just got to plug away and do your thing.”

The big-hitting South African finished a distant second behind Woods at two of the four majors in 2000 and his mental frailty deteriorated further at last year’s U.S. Masters when he self-destructed on the back nine after contending for the title.

But Els, in desperation, sought the help of Belgian sports psychologist Jos Vanstiphout and his mental strength down the stretch appeared to reach a new level with his British Open victory at Muirfield last year.

“My motivation now is a little different,” he said. “I’ve got certain goals that I want to achieve in my career and, hopefully, I don’t have to go through Tiger if he’s not there. But if he’s there, you’ve got to do what you have to do.

“It all depends on how you feel on the day, on how things are going and how mentally strong you are.”

The 33-year-old signalled he could provide a genuine challenge to Woods at this year’s majors after winning four titles in his first five starts of the season, and believes he is in good shape for Olympia Fields.

“I’ve done everything I could do to be a hundred percent for this week and I feel like everything is going according to plan,” said Els.

“My putter has let me down a bit, especially at the Memorial (tournament) and even at Wentworth (for last month’s Volvo PGA Championship).

“But I spent a lot of time (working on it) last week, so it’s just a matter of time, I think, before I start playing the way I want to play again.”

Another important factor in his favour is that he has experienced winning majors, and knows how to handle the pressure-cooker atmosphere on the last day.

“The pressure at a U.S. Open is very similar to any other major, and that means it’s a lot different than any other Tour event,” said Els, who won his first U.S. Open at Oakmont in 1994 and his second at Congressional in 1997.