After Brush With Frog, Els Can Kiss Title Hopes Away

Maybe it was Kermit.

Birdies. Bogeys. Frogs? It was a bad omen at the PGA Championship. A small frog hopped in front of Ernie Els before his third shot on the seventh hole at Valhalla Golf Club on Saturday, and Els backed off.

He left his shot short of the green and it rolled back down the hill. He putted up the hill and the ball rolled back down again. For his fifth shot, Els putted the ball 12 feet past the hole and two-putted from there for a double-bogey seven.

That was nothing compared to the quadruple bogey Els took on the 415-yard sixth hole, when he got caught in knee-deep rough, failed to get on the green until his sixth shot and eventually two-putted for his eight.

Els, who started the day at two under, shot 44 on the front, finished with a 79 and said goodbye to his chances in the PGA. He remained philosophical.

“Now I know exactly what those weekend golfers are feeling,” Els said. “Crazy. Hey, it’s one round out of my life.”

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Third-round leader Russ Cochran isn’t used to giving many interviews, which probably accounts for the 38 times he said “you know” in his media session.

Cochran was asked how qualifying school compares to playing in the last group of a major.

Said Cochran: “Well, you know, it’s hard to say, you know.”

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Playing host to a major golf championship is something new to Louisville, so the Louisville Courier-Journal has tried to cover the PGA from every angle.

The newspaper’s Scene magazine supplement listed 18 reasons why golf is not an elitist sport.

Among the reasons:

--One of the pro game’s lords is a Hoosier named Fuzzy.

--Kramer of “Seinfeld” has two main passions: fruit and golf.

--It’s Arnie’s Army, not Arnie’s Downstairs Domestics.

--It’s not polo.

--It’s not yachting.

--Hooters sponsors golf tournaments.

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Imagine Per-Ulrik Johansson’s surprise after stinking up the driving range, then going out and shooting a 66, his best round ever in a major.

“It’s funny how this game works,” said Johansson, a 29-year-old Swede who played college golf on the same Arizona State team as Phil Mickelson.

“I really felt awful on the driving range,” Johansson said. “I went out and said, ‘Just forget about the swing.’ ”