Two days before the 2003 Masters Tournament, Ernie Els (Stats | Bio) said the wrist injury he suffered a month before the event was "100 percent" healed.

It didn't appear that way after Els opened with 7-over-par 79 at soggy Augusta National Golf Club. It is the second-highest round of the 42 that he's played in the Masters.

Els rebounded with 66 to make the cut by four shots, then shot 72-70 on the weekend to tie for sixth place, the fourth-straight time he's finished in the top six at Augusta National.

The wrist injury "could have had an effect on my Masters performance," Els says now. "It especially affected my running into the Masters, my preparation."

The world's No. 3 player has no such injury worries this year, and he's taken a few more early-season breaks from tournament golf for the right reason, not because of an injury.

"I feel fresh and ready," said Els, who had injured his right wrist hitting a punching bag in his London home. "Last year at the Bay Hill Invitational (held three weeks before the Masters), I had an off wrist and a couple of thousand miles behind me flying. Maybe this is more like my schedule will be in the future, maybe a little more quieter."

Rest assured, Els won't be hitting any more punching bags.

"You've got to learn from your mistakes. I think I have learned," he said.

"I haven't hit a punching bag since. So I've got to grow up and be ready, and that's what I'm trying to do."

Els likes to play in the tournament leading into a major championship, but no longer competes in the BellSouth Classic in Duluth, Ga. - the Masters prelude.

"I didn't have a great experience when I played there," Els said. "Nothing against the golf course. I think it's good that they have that type of course before the Masters because the greens are very similar. My eye just didn't feel good on that course, so I decided not to play that the last couple of years."

Instead, he takes a trip to Augusta the Thursday before the Masters for a practice round, and then is back the next Monday to begin preparing in earnest.

"I think I've got a pretty nice formula," Els said. "My majors here (in the United States) have been pretty well the last couple of years."

Els finished in the top six in three of the 2003 majors but did not win one, which was about the only thing he didn't accomplish. Worldwide, Els won seven times, including twice on the PGA Tour.

"I had a brilliant year, but I had my mistakes," Els said. "I never really had a chance to win a major. Maybe the PGA Championship in August, I had an outside chance to win. The other ones, I was playing catch-up most of the time."

Els, 34, has won three majors - the 1994 and 1997 U.S. Opens and the 2002 British Open.

"That's everything," Els said of the majors. "I think being No. 1 in the world is one thing, but to win a major, that's what we all strive for. All four of them are equally important. You go ask the guys what is the most important. I think they all will tell you it's winning major championships. That's what we all want at the end of the day."

Els said it wasn't the first-round 79 that cost him a shot at the Masters title last year. It was the finish to his third-round 72. Els was 2-under on the round after making eagle on the par-4 seventh hole (he holed out a 151-yard 9-iron shot) and birdie on No. 8. He never made another birdie and stumbled with bogeys on Nos. 14 and 15.

"I got screwed on No. 14," Els said. "I pitched (his approach shot) by the hole, and it spun it off the green. That's impossible to do. I just didn't have the luck with me. I think No. 14 (in the third round) cost me my chances."

Reach David Westin at (706) 724-0851 or david.westin@augustachronicle.com.