Ernie Els hits back at 'craziness' from critical Ian Poulter

The repercussions over Ernie Els's controversial changes to Wentworth's West Course continued on Sunday, with the South African accusing Ian Poulter of "damaging" the European Tour's flagship event. The Englishman made headlines with his suggestion that the course was unfair in places and was not "fun". He was speaking at the end of his second round on Friday, just minutes after double‑bogeying the final hole. Els said he took such criticism personally. "It's difficult not to, especially when it's coming out of left field. A guy double-bogeys the last hole [because] he doesn't hit the right shot, and then he blames the golf course for his bad shots," he said."I don't take that lightly. We'll have a word when it's suitable, when he's calmed down a little bit. He's done a lot of damage to the flagship event. He's a Ryder Cup player, and to come out with things like that is uncalled for. He should think twice when he does that." Els praised the condition of the West Course, pointing out that the best two players in the world, Luke Donald and Lee Westwood, had finished at the top of the leaderboard and had provided one of the best tournaments staged at the venue in years. "We'll take stock," he said when asked if there would be any further changes. "But instead of [players] getting on a stage and talking to the world, come up with constructive criticism and we will listen. I'm not going to take this craziness. It's uncalled for."