By Jimmy Golen
The Associated Press

HAVEN, Wis. - They call it "Glory's Last Shot," and nobody at the PGA Championship understands better than Ernie Els.

Els has won three tournaments this year and is second in the world rankings, but the Big Easy has had a hard time bagging a major. It's not that he's played poorly; Els did everything he could do in the year's first three majors - except win.

"Yeah, I feel a little disappointed," he said Tuesday after practice at Whistling Straits. "You give so much and you don't really get a whole lot given back to you. But that's the game, and I've got to live with that. ... In this game, you lose more than you win. You've got to take your losses and move on."

Els finished second at the Masters when perennial runner-up Phil Mickelson birdied the last hole. In the U.S. Open, Els was in the final group in the final round but shot 80. And in the British Open, Els could have won with a 12-foot birdie putt on the 72nd hole that he left short; he lost a four-hole playoff to journeyman Todd Hamilton.

"I guess as long as I play the game, I'll think about that putt. But, you know, it's one of those things," Els said. "Make that putt, you win the tournament and we're laughing and smiling. And I miss the putt and I finish second. ...

"If you put yourself in that position so many times, you're doing something right. So, you've just got to finish it off a little bit better."

Even without a major, this has been a pretty good year for the 34-year-old South African. Including his three victories, he has seven top-10 finishes in 12 PGA Tour events and is 6-for-6 in the top 10 on the world tour.

"The fields are so strong, if you're going to win a tournament anywhere in the world, you've got to play good golf," Els said. "But, you know, majors are what you are really after, what I'm really after."