ANDY CAPOSTAGNO, Sun City | Sunday 6.00pm.
ERNIE Ernie Els set a new tournament record as he dismantled a quality field on the final day of the Million Dollar Challenge at Sun City. Els shot a final day 66, six under par, to finish on 263, 25 under for the tournament, one shot better than Nick Price managed in 1993.
Els beat Colin Montgomerie by five shots and the fast finishing Irishman Darren Clarke by seven. The whole field was under par at the end of the four days, but there was disappointment for British Open champion Paul Lawrie, who led after day one and finished bottom of the twelve man field after 72 holes.
Els carried a six shot lead into the final day, but had to fight hard to keep daylight between himself and Montgomerie. The Scotsman birdied three of the first four holes, to Els’ solitary birdie at the second. But on the fifth hole Els unleashed a monster drive, hit his approach to three feet and made the birdie putt to establish a five shot lead he kept until the 13th.
”I think Monty finally gave up as we walked up the 18th”, said a delighted Els. ”You won’t believe the pressure there is on me to win this tournament. I took two weeks off to practice at Fancourt and all anybody wanted to talk about was why I hadn’t won the Million Dollar before”.
Els will now travel down to Cape Town to play in the first tournament of the Vodacom Tour, the Players Championship at Royal Cape.