By David Ginsburg

MAMARONECK, N.Y. (AP) _ Ernie Els played a practice round this week at Winged Foot in front of a gallery that consisted of his wife and a smattering of curious fans.

At the practice green, Els lined up dozens of putts in an effort to correct the most significant flaw in his deteriorating golf game. Liezl Els sat alone across the way, watching her husband without saying a word.

It's been a quiet year for Els, who hasn't won a tournament since undergoing surgery on his left knee last July. His last round of competitive golf, earlier this month at the Memorial, was a horrid 81 _ his highest score on the PGA Tour in five years.

Much of the talk at Winged Foot this week has centred around a golfer vying to win the U.S. Open for a third time: Tiger Woods, not Ernie Els.

Els, it seems, is little more than an afterthought.

``I haven't had a great year up until now, obviously,'' he said. ``I've been looking for the one round that might turn it around for me. I've been working hard on every aspect of my game, really. It might be a good week for me because of the fact that it's the U.S. Open.''

Els won the tournament in 1994 and 1997, and has finished in the top 10 in seven of 13 appearances. But he's never entered in a slump like this one.

Soon after winning the Dunhill Championship on the PGA European Tour, Els lost to Woods in a playoff in the Dubai Desert Classic. It was the seventh time that Els finished second to Woods; no one else has been victimized in that fashion more than four times.

At least Els took second. In 11 PGA events in the United States this year, he hasn't fared better than seventh. Two months after the disaster in Dubai, he came in 27th in the Masters. Then came the nadir of his season, the 81 at the Memorial.

``I kind of fell off the bus there,'' he said.

And that, Els pretty much fell of the planet. He withdrew from the Barclays Classic and went home to London, where he played with his kids all week, in the pool until dark each night.

There's no telling if the time off will help his game. Given the manner in which Els has played thus far in 2006, it sure couldn't hurt.

``I'm not playing at the level I want to play, consistently,'' he said.

Before the injury last year, the 36-year-old Els had finished in the top 10 in five of 11 events.

``That's a huge loss for all of us out here,'' Woods said at the time. ``Ernie is one of the best players, obviously, in the world.''

The numbers would seem to indicate that Els no longer deserves such praise, but the South African isn't ready to concede anything this week. If he can get his putter working, then perhaps Els can earn a third U.S. Open title before Woods.

``It's the shortest stroke in the game, the shortest little swing. It should be the most simple stroke,'' he said. ``I've been working on that over the last couple of days, and it's starting to feel a little bit more natural now. ... I guess I've just got to be more patient and just keep grinding away.''