Missing Links

It’s opening day at Riviera Country Club, where the barrancas meet the eucalyptus trees, where Tiger Woods meets Ernie Els again and where the Nissan Open meets its 80th anniversary with a couple of notable streaks on the line.

Woods hasn’t won here, well, ever, but not through lack of effort. This is Woods’ ninth attempt to win the tournament since he turned pro in 1996 -- the only event he has played more than three times without winning. And even though Woods has come up short every time, he said there could be a very good reason.

“It’s a tough track,” Woods said Wednesday after he spent his pro-am round testing the surprisingly fast and firm Riviera fairways. “It’s not exactly easy here.”

But with two victories in his first two tournaments to start the year, both of them in playoffs and one of them involving Els, Woods is not exactly showing up without momentum.

“You know, two for two is never a bad thing,” he said.

Then there is Els, who hasn’t had his passport stamped in the U.S. for a long time. In fact, he hasn’t played in this country since the U.S. Open, a span of eight months. Els, who tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee in an accident while vacationing last July, began playing again in December. He started off as if he’d never been away.

He won the Dunhill Championship, was second at the South African Airways Open, tied for 13th at the Qatar Masters, then lost to Woods in a sudden-death playoff at the Dubai Desert Classic.

Yet Els has something Woods doesn’t -- a victory at Riviera. Els won the 1999 Nissan Open by two shots over Woods, Davis Love III and Ted Tryba, finishing with a three-under-par 68 while Woods shot a final-round 70.

Els took one look at his surroundings and said he was glad to be back.

“There is a little bit of karma going here,” he said. “I’m just looking forward to a solid year. I’m happy to be playing golf again.”

Woods and Els headline a field of 144 in the $5.1-million tournament (the winner’s share is a tournament-record $918,000). Five of the top-10 ranked players are here, starting with the top-ranked Woods and Els (No. 4), and joined by Jim Furyk (No. 7), Chris DiMarco (No. 8) and Adam Scott (No. 10).

Scott is the defending champion, or was at least paid as the winner, even though last year’s tournament was limited to 36 holes because of rain and was not considered an official event. Chad Campbell, who lost to Scott in a one-hole playoff last year, also is back.

As for Els, his reasoning for playing Riviera is simple.

“I mean, I’ve got to start somewhere,” he said.

So it will be on the 7,260-yard Riviera layout in Pacific Palisades, famous for its gnarly Kikuyu grass and legendary champions. The list of previous winners includes Ben Hogan, Byron Nelson, Sam Snead, Lloyd Mangrum, Tommy Bolt, Tom Watson, Johnny Miller and Nick Faldo.

Els hasn’t been back since he tied for 66th in 2000, the year he was defending his title.

Since he tied for 34th last year at St. Andrews in the British Open, the path Els followed back to Riviera was not exactly smooth. His injury occurred while on a family vacation in the Mediterranean and aboard an inflated tube pulled by a speedboat.

His left foot became tangled and he fell, twisting his knee. Doctors replaced the ruptured ligament with tendons from Els’ hamstrings. He didn’t play again until two months ago, but Els said he felt fortunate that his time away from golf meant something positive to him.

“You can reflect ... and I’ve really had real time, so to speak, for myself, and to be away from the circus, you know,” he said. “For a while there, I was going because I had to keep going. I wasn’t doing myself any favors. I did so much traveling.

“I think all this time that I had off was very constructive. So I have got things in place a lot better than I had them in the past.”

Woods said his life seems to be in order as well, now that his $25-million learning center opened last week in Anaheim. He recently bought a $38-million property in Jupiter, Fla., and he’s undefeated so far on the golf course. Earl Woods, his father, is seriously ill and battling cancer, which is an understandable strain, Tiger said.

“Any time you have a family member who is struggling, that’s the most important thing in life,” he said.

But when the first round begins this morning, Els and Woods cannot avoid being linked, not only because of their stature in the industry, but also because of the quality of their games. Els has three major titles -- the British Open and two U.S. Opens -- and Woods has 10, including the Masters and British Open last year.

There may be an opportunity to see how far each of them has come since, even if there is no guarantee of a showdown, which is also true of next week’s $7.5-million Match Play Championship at La Costa.

“This week is different than next week,” Woods said. “Next week, you don’t know really who you are going to get. You can play six matches and you may not face one of the top-seeded players. You never know.”

So we have arrived at the first Woods-Els confrontation of the year on the PGA Tour, possibly with more to come. It has worked out just the way Els described it. You’ve got to start somewhere, and today, it’s at Riviera.

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The facts

*--* * When: Today-Sunday. * Where: Riviera Country Club, Pacific Palisades (7,260 yards, Par 71). * TV schedule: Today, 9 a.m.-noon, USA; Friday, noon-3 p.m., USA; Saturday, noon-3 p.m., Channel 7; Sunday, 12:30-3:30 p.m., Channel 7. * Purse: $5.1 million.

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