T.J.'s Take: Something Els

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The game of golf is in a great place right now.

The 2008 calendar just flipped to March, the new PGA TOUR season is only 10 tournaments deep, the New Big Three has realigned back to the Old Big Three and each of those three -- Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Ernie Els -- has already recorded at least one TOUR win. Good times.

T.J. Auclair

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The last time Woods, Mickelson and Els each had a victory this early in the season was also the last season in which Els recorded a PGA TOUR win -- 2004.

With his win at The Honda Classic, Els ended a streak of 47 TOUR events without hoisting the hardware. It also allowed the Big Easy to eek past Steve Stricker to No. 3 in the Official World Golf Ranking.

If this is a taste of things to come in the majors, then... well, don't get too excited just yet. The big names will be spattered about the leaderboard, but the truth is Tiger is playing at a level so far beyond that of his peers that we're all going to need a little more convincing before we re-anoint Mickelson and Els as rivals of Woods.

Nevertheless, it's nice to know that the biggest three names in the game are firing on all cylinders.

Not to put a damper on things, but it should be noted that Woods wasn't in the field for Mickelson's win at the Northern Trust Open, or Els' win at The Honda Classic. Lefty was there for Tiger's win at the Buick Invitational and both Ernie and Phil were dismissed in the early rounds of the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship, which Tiger won convincingly two weeks ago. Oh yeah, then there was that Dubai Desert Classic on the European Tour. You know, the one where Els led Woods by four going into the final round, only to crumble while Woods did what he does and walked off with yet another impressive, come-from-behind win.

Regardless, when Tiger isn't playing, someone else (or "Els" with no "e" at the end) has got to win and it's nice to see the studs on top of their respective games.

Time will tell what Ernie's latest breakthrough will do for his psyche. I'm sure hoping it does a lot. By winning The Honda Classic, Els has knocked a huge monkey off his back, or better yet, that cruel, little man that's been known to sit on his shoulder and whisper negative thoughts into his ear.

Watching Els speak following his triumph Sunday was something to behold. Surely he never took his success for granted, but for a long time, winning was second nature. It looked as though he appreciated this one a little more. It wasn't as dramatic as the Ernie that I remember seeing at Muirfield in 2002, the one that cradled the Claret Jug like a newborn baby after winning the British Open. Still, you could tell he was proud Sunday.

Proud might be the wrong word -- perhaps he was just relieved. When you've got more than 60 worldwide wins like Ernie, you don't have to prove anything to anyone. Except maybe yourself. Ernie has always been his own biggest critic. It's got to be humbling to go from winning machine to wondering if you'll ever win again.

Now that he knows he can still get it done, here's to hoping he can get it done more often.