THURSDAY, 1.00PM:
US OPEN champion Ernie Els won the $200 000 International leg of the Andersen Consulting World Championship of golf in Kohler, USA on Wednesday . He finished two holes ahead of Australian Steve Elkington to qualify to play in the four-man world finals at Scottsdale, Arizona in January.
Els will play against his old rival Colin Montgomerie, who won the European championships, in the finals next year. “We are good friends and he’s a great player,” said Els about Montgomerie.
Els went three up after nine holes and Elkington birdied the next two holes to pull back to just one down, after Els missed a 4m putt for victory on number 15. Elkington hit two shots into the water to settle for the second place. A happy Els said after the game: “He had a great break to say the least, but I figured the golfing gods owed me one too, and they gave me one back right there.”
Meanwhile, Els and Wayne Westner will defend their World Cup of Golf title on the Ocean Course at the Kiawah Island Resort in South Carolina, US in November. Els and Westner won the title last year after finishing 18 strokes ahead of Tom Lehman and Steve Jones of the US. South Afrca and the US are among the 22 teams which do not have to qualify for the tournament.