Els needs to ride Chrysler toward East Lake

PALM HARBOR, Fla. – Ernie Els has never missed the season-ending Tour Championship when playing a full schedule with a healthy body, so he jotted that down as part of his global schedule when laying out his plans for the year.

But not everything has gone according to plan.

Els thought the Chrysler Championship might be a good place for him to get ready for East Lake next week. But at No. 30 on the PGA Tour money list, he needs a good week at Innisbrook simply to get into the Tour Championship. He only has a $53,000 margin over Tim Clark at No. 31, knowing that any of the 60 guys behind him could win and potentially knock him out.

“I really don’t want to miss it,” Els said Wednesday. “Finishing in the top 30 would give you something. I haven’t had too much to grab onto this year. I’ve had some good finishes outside of the U.S. In the U.S. itself, I haven’t really been up to my best.”

Els is back in the United States for the first time in two months. The goal is to stay two weeks.

Since joining the PGA Tour in 1994, the year he won his first U.S. Open, Els has missed the Tour Championship only one time. That was in 1998, when his season was hampered by back injuries.

Els is not alone in his pursuit of secondary gains at the Chrysler Championship, which starts today at Innisbrook.

This is the final full-field tournament of the year, one last chance for players to either get into the Tour Championship (top 30 on the money list) or the Masters (top 40). Perhaps more critical is keeping a job for next year, and that will be decided by the top 125 for full status and the top 150 for conditional status.

The odd man out appeared to be Bubba Dickerson.

He had a chance to sew up his card last week until a 72-78 weekend at Disney moved him up to No. 125. But with such a low standing, he was the third alternate at Innisbrook, and milling around the locker room, he was losing hope that three guys would pull out of the event over the next 24 hours.

Dickerson, a former U.S. Amateur champion, blamed no one but himself.

“I could have taken care of it last week,” he said. “I wouldn’t be in this situation if I had played better golf. It’s tough to take.”

He could still keep his position, but it’s unlikely. Any of the three guys behind him on the money list only have to make the cut to give Dickerson one more tournament this year – the final stage of Q-school.