Sport

Ernie Els savours big victory

Brad Morgan

16 March 2010

Ernie Els celebrated his first victory in two years on Sunday when he secured the World Golf Championships-CA Championship on the Blue Monster at Doral by four shots. The Big Easy's house guest during the event, fellow South African Charl Schwartzel, finished second.

"I'm 40, and I've had a tough run," a happy Els told the media, after claiming victory. "My hairs are standing up. It's just great.

"I really wanted to play well today," he added. "You saw me yesterday, I missed some short putts.

"I thought my game was in good shape, I just wanted to come out and prove it to myself for once.

'It means so much'

"It means so much. I didn't ever think it was going to happen again. I felt all week that the work that I did, I finally had to trust it. Today was a great day for it. The wind was blowing, and I hit solid shots.

"Charl came at me all day until 17, and I had to come up with the goods. I've got to take a lot of positives out of this going into the Masters in a month."

The victory marked the second time that Els had won the CA Championship. Previously, when it was known as the American Express Championship, he claimed the title in 2004 in Kilkenny, Ireland.

Only two other golfers have managed to win a World Golf Championship event more than once: Tiger Woods and Geoff Ogilvy.

All-time leader

The World Golf Championship event is co-sanctioned by the European Tour and US PGA Tour and with his victory at Doral, Els became the all-time leading money winner on the European Tour, passing Colin Montgomerie for first place.

The win also lifted him back into the top 10 of the World Golf Rankings, all the way up to number eight. He holds the record for the most weeks in the top 10 of the Rankings, with 758.

Prior to the event, Els, writing on his website, mentioned that the Blue Monster was a golf course that he had previously won on when he captured the Genuity Championship in 2002, saying he would "go in (to the event) with some good vibes". It worked out perfectly for the Big South African.

Consistent

He was very consistent during the tournament, a quality that had been missing from his game for some time. And with a strong finish of a bogey-free round of six-under-par 66, Els turned a third round tie for the lead with Schwartzel into a comfortable victory.

Els was also bogey-free in the second round and posted only five bogeys throughout the tournament. The fewest birdies he recorded in a round was five in round three, while every other round featured six birdies.

He finished on 18-under-par 270 for the event, after rounds of 68, 66, 70, and 66. Schwartzel posted rounds of 67, 70, 67, and 70 for a total of 14-under 274, which left him three shots clear of third placed Matt Kuchar, Martin Kaymer, and Padraig Harrington.

PGA Tour card

More importantly for Schwartzel, his runner-up finish earned him his PGA Tour card for 2011.

He finished in the top 10 of a World Golf Championship event for the second time in succession after tying for ninth at the Accenture Match Play Championship in February.

Earlier in the season, Schwartzel won consecutive events on the PGA European Tour at the Africa Open and Joburg Open. Thanks mostly to those wins, he remains on top of the European Tour's Race to Dubai standings. Els - after his victory at Doral - is in third place, just behind Ian Poulter.

For his winning effort, Els took home a cheque for US$1.4-million, worth more than R10-million. Schwartzel's cheque of $850 000 was worth almost R6.3-million.

Tim Clark tied for 22nd on five-under-par 283 after rounds of 70, 69, 74 and 70. Retief Goosen shared 56th place on 290.