Last Year's Championship
Wentworth’s own Ernie Els returned to winning ways at the world’s richest tournament,
proving once again his mastery of match play golf.
JUST wish I could pick Wentworth up and take it round the world with me.” An impractical idea, of course – and anyway where would the rest of us play? – but it was perfectly understandable why Ernie Els, Wentworth’s favourite adopted son, wished so
fervently for that special cartographical miracle.
The hugely likeable South African ace had just finished a gorgeous autumn Sunday afternoon hugging the gleaming Mark McCormack trophy and pocketing the £1million cheque (the richest first prize in international golf) after winning the HSBC World
Match Play title for a magnificent seventh time. In fact, from 12 appearances in the HSBC World Match Play at Wentworth, the Big Easy has pocketed an extraordinary £4million plus.
In all, he has played in 30 matches in this tournament during the past 14 years, winning 25 of them. He has appeared in eight finals losing just once, to Vijay Singh in 1997. No wonder, then, that he considers Wentworth so much more than just a British base. Indeed, he shares a lovely home with his wife Liezl and family beside the 16th fairway of the famous West Course, a historic layout which he has re-designed for the 21st century. He has been adopted as the Club’s touring professional, and his children Samantha and Ben go to the local school.
“This is a dream come true,” said a beaming Els after defeating US Open champion Angel Cabrera by a convincing 6 and 4 margin. “Never in my wildest imagination could I have seen myself winning this prestigious title seven times.” It ended what was by his own exacting standards a long and painful absence from the winner’s circle for
Els, following his comeback after serious knee surgery in 2005. He last tasted victory in the South African Airways Open in December last year, but his last win in Europe was the 2004 HSBC World Match Play.
“This is brilliant for me and such a blessed relief,” he added. “I have played some good golf for the past two years, but I haven’t had any luck or any results in Europe or America, or wherever else I have played. I have either lost in play-offs or finished second. “So to get such an important win and to play the way I did this week in such a world-class field is so satisfying. Hopefully this will open up the doors for me to enjoy more wins.”
Els, who beat Colin Montgomerie 6 and 5, Andres Romero 3 and 2 and Henrik Stenson 2 and 1 on his way to the title, saved his best golf for the final, bagging no fewer than 13 birdies in 32 holes. He was never behind against an opponent who had himself collected 31 birdies in an imperious march to the final, beating Surrey’s defending
champion Paul Casey 4 and 3 in a low-scoring second-round clash. Els ended the morning round three up, but was hampered by a painful back spasm which needed 20 minutes of emergency treatment during the lunch break. The key moment came at the third hole in the afternoon, when Els almost drove into the trees on the right, then caught a branch with his intended recovery before managing a super up-and-down
with an eight iron to 12 feet for a putt to save par.
Cabrera, on the right fringe of the green in two, mis-hit his chip and saw his four-foot par putt slide by to lose a hole he had seemed certain to win. “That was a huge moment,” admitted Els. ”It gave me a good cushion against any possible comeback.” Cabrera did manage to cut the deficit to two holes with winning birdies at the sixth and ninth, but when Els holed a 15-foot birdie putt on the 10th it was virtually all over. The end came at the short 14th when Cabrera was unable to hole his chip from the fringe. Cabrera, who had beaten Els 2 and 1 in the first round last year, was full of praise for his conqueror, whom he described as the “King of Wentworth”. “I played my best today,” he added, “but it wasn’t enough. Ernie played great and showed why he is so hard to beat in his own backyard.”
Cabrera was not the only player to go away with positive memories of Wentworth. Swedish Ryder Cup star Henrik Stenson added to his growing reputation with his charge to the semi-finals. British golfing fans also found out why Americans
are expecting Hunter Mahan to be one of their major stars of the next decade as he reached the last four with a disarming mixture of class and character. In the end, however, it was Ernie; who Els?