Number one-seeking Els ends long drought

Before Tiger Woods, Ernie Els was the next best thing in world golf. I came across Els while covering the 1996 Alfred Dunhill Masters in Hong Kong for a local newspaper.

Els was taking part and during one press conference he got to talking about this phenomenon called Tiger Woods, who had only recently turned pro.

The Big Easy was raving on about Woods, how the young American could do things other golfers could only dream about and how he was looking forward to crossing swords with him on the golf course.

Indeed, Els has had the better of Woods on some occasions, but Tiger certainly has the upper hand in one-on-one battles. Still, Els won’t go away and, at his best, he can be a handful for any pro, Tiger included.

And just when you think the South African has faded away, he bounces back, just as he did at Palm Beach Gardens over the weekend when he triumphed in the Honda Classic.

It was his first title on the PGA Tour since the 2004 CA Championship as he shot a final round of three-under-par 67 to finish at six-under for the tournament. He was one ahead of Luke Donald, who closed with 71 and two in front of Nathan Green (67).

Els, a three-time major champion, ended a 47-tournament streak without success and can thank Mark Calcavecchia’s never-ending sand shot on the 15th that gave the South African the outright lead.

Calcavecchia was tied with Els at that point but his sand blast landed on the green and didn’t stop, the ball eventually resting on a rock ledge across the green. He double bogeyed the hole.

Els has a three-year plan to grab the world number one ranking from Woods and this victory means he is on track. He said on the PGA Tour website:

“It has to feel even sweeter, you know, losing so many tournaments and one now going my way. To win over here, it’s been really my goal. So it’s a great feeling. That’s as good as I probably could have played in the final round. So it was very satisfying.”

Els won nearly $1 million for his victory and jumped to third in the world rankings.

Another player trying to emulate Woods is New Zealand’s Mark Brown, who is on a hot streak at the moment. Brown is hoping for his third tournament victory in a row at this week’s Malaysian Open.

Over the weekend, he won the European Tour’s Johnnie Walker Classic in New Delhi having triumphed in the Sail Open, also in India, the previous week. Woods is the only golfer to have won three in a row this year and Brown wants to do the same.

The 33-year-old was ranked 322 at the start of the year and is now 64th. No one would have bet on him three weeks ago, but it is very different now. He said on the European Tour website:

“My golfing career has been mostly down but thankfully it is now on the way up, especially these last two weeks. In the same way as I approached the Johnnie Walker Classic, it is important to get my feet back down to earth and play well in the upcoming tournaments which is what I’ll be attempting to do in Malaysia.”

Also taking part in Malaysia is compatriot and 2005 US Open champion Michael Campbell, Northern Ireland’s Darren Clarke and Rory McIlroy, England’s Nick Dougherty and David Howell and defending champion Peter Hedblom.


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