Els eyes win on return visit

Ernie Els believes his second successive appearance at the Wachovia Championship could provide an ideal warm-up for next month's US Open at Oakmont.

The Quail Hollow Club, a tree-lined par-72 layout of 7,442 yards with three-inch thick rough, is running fast and firm in typical major championship fashion.

"It is the kind of golf course that I really like and I'm looking forward to it," South African Els said. "I had a bit of an up-and-down few days here last year but, despite that, I remember thinking straight after the tournament had finished that I wanted to come back again in 2007.

"In many ways, it reminded me a lot of the old traditional-like courses that we play major championships on. It asks a lot of tough questions about your game."

Els, who opened with consecutive 71s at Quail Hollow last year before falling back into a tie for 38th, knows this week will place a premium on accurate driving.

"It's probably one of the toughest golf courses on the PGA Tour right now," the twice US Open champion said. "It's almost 7,500 yards and the fairways aren't that wide, so you need distance and accuracy off the tee to give yourself a decent shot at the flags."

Els, who finished second in his most recent PGA Tour start at the Heritage Classic three weeks ago, feels putting is the only component in his game holding him back.

"My putting took up a lot of my attention last week but there's not much wrong," the world number five said. "Once I start seeing the ball going in the hole, it'll be fine. In some ways it's a confidence thing, really.

"The rest of my game is in good shape. I heard from a friend last week that the great teacher John Jacobs had seen me play recently and he thought I was swinging the club better than I have for many years, which is good to hear."

Els, who won the US Open when it was last played at Oakmont in 1994, faces one of the strongest fields of the year at Quail Hollow. Tiger Woods makes his first tournament appearance since tying for second at last month's Masters, and 26 other members of the world's top 30 are competing, including the entire top 10.

Second-ranked Jim Furyk, who has always loved playing at Quail Hollow, is back to defend the title he won last year in a play-off with South African Trevor Immelman. "This is played on a very, very good golf course, it gets a very, very strong field and always has a very big purse," Furyk said of the $6.4 million event.

Also playing this week are 2005 champion Vijay Singh, who leads the inaugural FedExCup points race and has triumphed twice on the PGA Tour this season, world number three Phil Mickelson and fourth-ranked Adam Scott of Australia.

Padraig Harrington returns to action in the event and will be joined by Darren Clarke who had a disappointing outing in Madrid last weekend. He has now missed four successive cuts and will be hoping for a change in form.

Meanwhile, Tom Lehman intends to prove he is still good enough for the American Ryder Cup team when he plays in this week's Italian Open where Paul McGinley, Peter Lawrie and Gary Murphy lead the Irish challenge.

Last year's defeated US Ryder Cup captain will not have Ian Woosnam standing in his way because his European counterpart has withdrawn from the event at the Tolcinasco course through injury. Lehman will still aim to produce the sort of form he has shown in Europe in the past when claiming the 1996 British Open and 1997 Scottish Open titles.

When asked by reporters yesterday in Milan if he hoped to play in US Ryder Cup captain Paul Azinger's team to take on Nick Faldo's men next year, Lehman, who will be 49 when the match takes place at Valhalla, said: "I'd like to, it is just whether or not I can get good enough. When I play well I am capable. It's just that those weeks are few and far between right now."

Part of the reason for Lehman losing his consistency is the heavy defeat of his team at The K Club last September. He said he was now refocused on making the team, however, especially as the US selection process has changed. "There was so much that went into the build-up (for the 2006 match). It can be fairly difficult to get back into the golfing groove and the season really fizzled out for me. And losing affected me. In fact the further away we got from the Ryder Cup the more it bothered me. But the off-season got me reinvigorated again, to look forward to not only this season but the next as well."

He praised the new US system of the captain getting four picks instead of two for next year's event and eight berths on the 12-man team being tied to points relating to money earned in events leading up to it.

This year only the four majors will count for the points and therefore one of the events that could help him build up his points is the British Open at Carnoustie in July and Lehman is relieved that the Scottish course may not be as tough to play as in 1999.

Eight years ago the Carnoustie rough brought many a player to his knees but, because of dry conditions in the east of Scotland last year and this, the R and A have expressed "serious doubts" that it will be as formidable this time. "That's a relief to hear," Lehman said. "I saw most of the rough last time (in 1999) and never saw much of the course."

Venue: Quail Hollow Golf course, Charlotte, North Carolina.

Prize Money: $6,300,000 (winner $1,134,000).

Course: It is a private members' club that hosted the Kemper Open from 1969-1979. It was designed by George Cobb in 1961 before Arnold Palmer made modifications in 1986 and there followed a redesign by Tom Fazio in 1997 and 2003. The signature hole is the 217 yard, par three 17th over water.

Defending champion: Jim Furyk.

On TV: Setanta Golf

Wachovia Championship

Venue: Castello di Tolcinasco Golf and Country Club.

Prize Money: €1,700,000 (winner €283,330).

Course: The Arnold Palmer designed course opened for play in 1993. There are a lot of dog legs, right to left over a very flat layout. Water comes into play on 12 holes and there are two new tee boxes at the third and sixth.

Defending Champion: Francesco Molinari (-23).

Course Record: Ian Poulter, Angel Cabrera 61.

On TV: Sky Sports 1, 3, Extra.

Italian Open