Ernie Els has apologised for his ill-tempered remarks regarding the condition of the greens at Wentworth.

After his third round at the BMW PGA Championship on Saturday, Els, the man responsible for the changes made to the West Course when he helped redesign it in 2010, hit out at greenkeepers and officials for failing to water the putting surfaces heavily enough, making it nearly impossible to hold approach shots on some greens.

''Really, I am (ticked) off,'' Els said. ''I've asked them to put water on the bloody greens and then I spoke to J.P. (chief European Tour referee John Paramor) coming up the 15th and he said, 'We did water it last night.' I said you have to triple that. You have a damn 30 mph easterly breeze blowing so put (expletive) water on the greens.

''You don't have to be a rocket scientist to figure that out. So now we have another situation and the guys aren't going to be very happy. It is difficult enough as it is with conditions the way they are but the tour has really got to play the ball now, and the greens staff. I have been asking both to play ball with me for a while now and I can't keep taking this, and at some point they have to start listening.''

On Sunday, George O'Grady, chief executive of the European Tour, said that "Ernie Els asked to see me this morning and apologized for his intemperate language.

"He stated that he had already apologised to all the individuals concerned and offered a substantial donation to the European Tour Benevolent Trust, which I accepted."

The matter is now considered closed and Els will face no further sanction.

Golf 365