Six players from each Presidents Cup team took turns sitting behind a long table during two days of press conferences at Royal Montreal, and it was no coincidence that the center seat belonged to the top players.
And it was no surprise to see Ernie Els front and center.
No one has played in more Presidents Cup matches for the International team than Vijay Singh, but it's the Big Easy who is considered the spiritual leader of this team. And they were glad to have him back.
"It was a big disappointment for me last time not to have Ernie," captain Gary Player said. "It was a very, very important thing to have Ernie, and we lost by one hole. And that's when you really realized how important it would have been to have Ernie. So we are pleased to have him back this year, and let's hope he plays well."
Els missed the 2005 matches while recovering from surgery after tearing ligaments in his left knee while tubing in the Mediterranean on a family holiday. The United States won in the final match and Player always wondered how much it would have helped to have the three-time major champion on his side.
"Obviously, this is a big deal," Els said. "You want to get in a team like this. It puts you with world-class players like we have."
His last Presidents Cup was in South Africa in 2003, and Els took two rookies under his wing with alarming success. He and Tim Clark won both their matches, and Els and Adam Scott went 2-0. The only thing that kept it from being a perfect week was losing to Tiger Woods in the Sunday singles, although their sudden-death playoff for the cup ended in a tie at dark.
Els has not won anywhere in the world in 2007, although he comes into these matches with momentum on his side. He was in contention on the back nine of the British Open and PGA Championship, had a chance at The Barclays, then settled into mediocrity at East Lake.
Even so, he appears fully recovered from his knee injury, enough that U.S. captain Jack Nicklaus made fun of him.
"I'm taking Ernie tubing," Nicklaus said.
Once the laughter subsided, Player replied, "Tiger is joining him."
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