Ernie Els has changed the culture around the Internationals ahead of the Presidents Cup
The team hierarchy among the Internationals had gotten stale. And there was no sign of any evolution from one Presidents Cup to the next. This is how first-time captain Ernie Els flipped the script.
Golf
Don't miss out on the headlines from Golf. Followed categories will be added to My News.
For two years Ernie Els has been preparing his players for this.
He’s been in their ears constantly, face-to-face or on the phone, stirring them up, finding the things that inspire them.
There was too much the first-time International team captain just didn’t like seeing when he was an assistant in New York two years ago, when the Americans handed out a record Presidents Cup smashing.
LIVE: FOLLOW EVERY MOMENT AS THE INTERNATIONALS TAKE ON TIGER
The team hierarchy was stale. Nick Price was captain for a third time, for a third defeat, and there was no sign of any evolution from one event to the next.
Geoff Ogilvy, who played in three Cups and has morphed into a captain’s assistant, saw the bad signs too and lamented them.
Stream over 50 sports live and on demand with KAYO SPORTS. Just $25/month, no lock-in contract. Get your 14-day free trial and start streaming instantly >
Els is a proud man and a serious competitor. His gloriously appropriate moniker may have been “The Big Easy”, which spoke to his swing, and his demeanour.
But you don’t get 71 professional wins, including four majors, without some seriously competitive fire.
So for a man like Els that New York humiliation was, as eight-time Cup victim Adam Scott called it, the “last straw”. Change was needed. Els would make it happen.
People outside the sporting bubble which the competitors inhabit sometimes don’t grasp the significance of things that seem like fluff to them.
But they mean a heck of a lot to those living and breathing the competition, who rise and fall on the wins and losses.
Things like logos.
Until this time, the International team played under a US PGA Tour concocted symbol. It was bland, blue with some stars, represented nothing and was totally uninspiring.
The comparison with the USA flag, an iconic symbol which has driven success throughout history, mirrored the state of the competition.
It was something against nothing. Els knew that, so he changed it. Not the event organisers, Els did it.
He created a new logo, branded it a “shield”, with a significance he detailed to team members only.
It represents unity, loyalty, faith and strength.
It’s a symbol which resonated with the players who through previous Cups couldn’t find that sense of purpose, other than normal winning desires.
“This is more personal. I think this is more what the players really wanted, and Ernie spent a lot of effort and time,” said South African Louis Oosthuizen, declaring another big loss could be hard to recover from, even for the next generation of players.
“We need to get that identity of what we are and what we playing for and who we are as a team. It’s who we are playing for, what we are, and what we stand for.
“Ernie did a great job of getting something that we look up to and know that’s our team; that’s us.”
The first-timers have had universal “buy in” too for the cultural change Els is laying down.
“You can see how passionate he is, you can see how invested he is in the team, and I think it’s unbelievable,” Mexico’s Abraham Ancer said.
MORE GOLF
Tiger Woods has jumped into his role as playing-skipper with great enthusiasm
International to exploit USA’s bad apple in bid to break Presidents Cup drought
‘He knows he’s doing something wrong’: Australia golfer Cam Smith calls out Tour golf cheat
As well as the logo, there’s a number plastered across the International players’ lockers, a constant reminder of their ultimate goal
It’s 15.5, the number of points needed for a win, a win which first-timer Cameron Smith says would mean so much to those players who have known only losses.
“I mean, I think a few of them might even shed a tear,” the Queenslander said.
“Growing up seeing the Internationals lose, I think we all want it that little bit more.”
Els has made it that way.