Ernie, Phil have warm words for Woods

CHARLOTTE - Ernie Els and Phil Mickelson will each make his 100th major start on Thursday at the PGA Championship, and both credit Tiger Woods with helping them boost their fitness and longevity.

US left-hander Mickelson, a five-time major winner, and Els, a four-time major champion from South Africa, paid tribute to the injured 14-time major champion on Tuesday at Quail Hollow.

"Had Tiger not come around, I don't feel I would have pushed myself to achieve what I ended up achieving, because he forced everybody to get the best out of themselves," Mickelson said.

"He forced everybody to work a little bit harder. He forced everybody to look at fitness as a big part of the game of golf, and I think that has actually helped me with longevity.

"He was a big influence on that, so I don't think I would have had the same level of success had he not come around."

Els, runner-up to Woods at the US and British Opens in 2000, agreed, saying Woods' 1997 Masters victory was so impressive it derailed his own major chances for a time.

"I was ready to win quite a few, if you know what I mean, and then when Tiger came in'97 and won the Masters in the way he did, that threw me off a little bit," Els said.

"I thought I was really one of the top players, which I was, but that was a pretty special display of golf. I had quite a few run-ins with him in majors. It wasn't really very close.

"This guy is so special and he absolutely changed the game. He got us to really elevate our games. But I could have had a couple more, definitely, without him around."

Els won the 1994 and 1997 US Opens and the 2002 and 2012 British Opens. Mickelson won the 2004, 2006 and 2010 Masters, the 2005 PGA and the 2013 British Open.

Els was elected to the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2011, Mickelson the following year.

"I think it will take a while to kind of sink in for the two of us, but it's pretty cool," Els said of becoming golf centurions.

Mickelson agreed: "It just goes by so fast. You don't think about it. It has been a lot of fun. I know we both want to win a couple more."

Each man was asked to pick one shot from his majors as his best. Mickelson named his blast from the pine straw around a tree on the 13th hole at Augusta on the way to victory in 2010. Els picked his second shot at 17 to help seal his second US Open title at Congressional.

"Lefty" and "The Big Easy" sized up each other's legacy as well, Mickelson citing Els' work with autism charities as well as his golfing skills.

"What Ernie has done for autism, I think that's the legacy he's leaving because he's changing lives and impacting a lot of lives of people that go through autism," Mickelson said.

Agence France-presse