I won this event in 1999, shooting 14 under for four rounds to beat Tiger and a couple of other guys.

[What else is there for Els to do? He finally caught Tiger, but he's still not No. 1. That must seem weird to him, too. So now he has set his sights on the career Grand Slam (he already has won the U.S. and British Opens) and Vijay Singh.] I think the game is on, ... Vijay has won eight times this year; I've won four. So it's interesting.

Tiger was clever enough, when he got the ball rolling in 1997, to step on the gas. It was a blow that kind of stopped me. I basically lost two years of conditioning and a lot of confidence. When I gathered myself, the mistake I and some other top players made was looking at Tiger and saying, 'All right, now I'm going to challenge.' But he had passed us. We weren't in his league. When I realized that, I wasn't sure where I needed to start. I'd say 'OK, I'm going to hit balls now,' and I'd hit balls for six hours thinking that's how I'd get better. But that didn't do it. Then I began to think about my attitude, and Jos was there to refresh me. I think he's gotten me closer to Tiger. And now I think a lot of players are realizing what they really have to do to compete and get better.

There's no one better than Ben on the greens here at Augusta, probably him, Tiger (Woods) and Phil (Mickelson). I think Ben still may be even better than Tiger on the greens.

I just got beat. I played almost as good as I could. I've had some good weeks here. Obviously, I'd like to do really well this week.

[In a way, Arnold Palmer discov-ered Els, and in another way, Ernie found the other four members of the Big Five. Playing in his first American major, the 1992 PGA Championship, Els drew Palmer for the only two rounds either of them played.] He was 62, ... I remember the handshake he gave me on the first tee. It was a big deal for me, a little bit too big. I never saw a gallery like that. It was my introduction to everything. I don't know why they put me with Arnold Palmer. I guess I would have had a better chance if I'd played with Greg Kraft. But I'm glad they did.