21 October 2002

The past year has been very good to South African golf superstar Ernie Els. During that time he has won six titles, including a major. A true citizen and star of the world, his triumphs have come in South Africa, Australia, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and the United States of America!

His titles include the Vodacom Players Championship on the South African PGA tour, the Heineken Classic on the PGA Tour of Australasia, The Dubai Desert Classic on the European PGA Tour, The Genuity Championship on the US PGA Tour and The Open Championship, which forms part of both the European PGA and US PGA tours. And now he can add the Cisco World Matchplay title to his list of successes, after winning it for the fourth time, near his UK home at Wentworth, Surrey, at the weekend.

Seizing the initiative
It was quite a tournament for The Big Easy, who didn’t trail once in his three matches. Faced with a challenging first match against Colin Montgomerie, who scored a superb four-and-a-half out of five points for the Europeans in their Ryder Cup triumph over the USA, Els responded in no uncertain terms, thrashing the Scottish star six-and-five to advance to the semi-finals. It was Montgomerie’s unlucky day as he ran into an unbelievable onslaught from Els, who rolled in 11 birdies and three eagles to secure a brilliant victory.

Els faced Fiji’s Vijay Singh, ranked eighth in the world, in the final four. Singh had accounted for Els’ compatriot and European PGA Order of Merit leader, Retief Goosen, in the previous round, winning four-and-three. More than superb form from the South African ace, though, it was poor form from Singh that put Els on the road to victory. The Fijian bogeyed the first three holes of the contest to put himself in a hole from which he was unable to extricate himself. Els’ win set up a final against world number five, Sergio Garcia, who booked his place in the title decider by chipping in for an eagle to defeat New Zealand’s Michael Campbell two-and-one.

Racing into the lead
Els took charge of the final early on, racing into a five-shot lead after only 12 holes. However, Garcia, who had trailed by four and three shots in his previous matches before winning, showed his fighting spirit by cutting into his opponent’s lead and by the 24th hole of the 36-hole final he trailed by only a single shot.

Three holes on, though, Els doubled his lead after Garcia conceded and on the following hole he moved three shots clear after sinking a huge 40-foot putt. Garcia continued to hang in and again pulled two shots back after capturing the 31st and 32nd holes. Els was not to be denied, however, and with a hole to play he secured his fourth Cisco World Matchplay title with a two-and-one victory.

It pulled the big South African to within one of the all-time record jointly shared by Gary Player and Seve Ballesteros and improved his record in the event to a superb 15 wins and four losses. His previous three successes had happened some time back, though, having come in successive years from 1994 to 1996 and Els savoured the feeling of victory in the one-on-one format again. “After I won my third title it all seemed quite easy, but after I lost the 1997 final to Vijay (Singh) I've struggled to get back into the final again,” said Els.

"What more can I ask for?"
Even runner-up Sergio Garcia enjoyed the final, describing it as fun and a really great match, while Els hinted that, despite his victory, he had hit even greater heights during his fantastic past year and not necessarily on the golf course: “This caps a great year for me. Winning the Open Championship was always the ultimate dream in golfing terms and I now have a new baby son in the same year to go with our beautiful little girl. What more can I ask for?” he asked.

Ernie Els’ top results in the past year

1st

The Masters

	Ernie Els topped Sergio Garcia to add yet another World Matchplay title to his impressive list of wins

	Dramatic Open win for Ernie Golf: Retief Goosen Nedbank Golf Challenge Golf: Ernie Els Golf: Bobby Locke Golf: Gary Player

	Ernie Els  PGA European Tour  PGA Tour  Sunshine Tour  PGA Tour of Australasia