ERNIE Els was eliminated from the opening-round at the Match Play Championships in California on Wednesday. The seventh-ranked player and the winner three days earlier at Riviera, lost to 58th-ranked Paul Azinger on the 18th hole, 1 up. Several of the world’s elite golfers were eliminated from the competition that pays the winner $1-million. The losers received $25000 consolation prizes. Mark O’Meara, the reigning Masters and British Open champion, ranked third in the world behind Woods and Duval, lost to 62nd-ranked Michael Bradley 4 and 2. However, Tiger Woods and David Duval, the two men with the greatest claim to being the best golf player in the world, won through.