Ernie Els won his third Nedbank Golf Challenge on Sunday with a record-setting display he called ”the round of his career.”
The South African scooped the $2-million first prize with a round of 63, a record on the newly designed layout of the Gary Player Country Club. He ended the tournament on a 21-under-par 267, eight shots clear of Scotland’s Colin Montgomerie who fired a 67 on
Sunday, and 11 ahead of third-placed American Chris Dimarco.
”This is probably the round of my career,” said Els. ”I don’t think I have ever shot a 63 when I’ve been in the lead before.”
The 33-year-old father of two admitted he had not been aiming for a course record at the start of the round when he was 12 under par. ”I just wanted to get to 16 or 17 under. It wasn’t that easy when we started. The wind was blowing again and you often had to go with your gut feeling when selecting a club.”
The defining moment of the round came when he birdied the par-five second after his tee shot landed in the rough. ”I used a three wood and I was just about to swing when I felt the wind change.
”Instead of just changing to a driver, for some reason I just tried to hit the three-wood harder.”
Fortunately for Els the ball hit a tree and did not leave him an impossible second shot. ”That was a big break, probably the break of the tournament for me.”
After that the South African struck birdies on six, nine, 10, 12,14,15,17 and 18, in his second consecutive bogey-free round. It was only late in the round, however, that Els convinced himself he had the tournament wrapped up. ”All sorts of things go through your head but at the 17th I knew it was all over.”
Els has had a great year with victories in the British Open and the World Match Play Championships. This he attributes to having rid himself of the spectre of Tiger Woods. ”This year I would say I was a bit more disciplined and I really enjoyed the way I played. I had more patience this year and I think I made peace with the fact that Tiger is out there and I don’t have to chase him around anymore and just play my own game.
”I just stuck to my guns and did not care much about the other guys all that much, not like in 2001.”
His coach Jos van Stiphout said on Sunday morning that the world had not seen the best of Ernie Els.
”He believes I can get better and I believe it too. I am 33 years old and if I can stay healthy and keep working on my game, there is no reason I can’t improve
further.”
Els was playing in this event for the 11th time and has now won it three times — the others coming in 1999 and 2000. He has collected $6,5-million over the period which is an average of $148 000 (R1,36- million) per round. Remarkably, Els has been below par in all of his last 28 rounds played at this
tournament.
”You guys have been doing your arithmetic,” laughed Els.
”Perhaps one day when I’m retired I’ll come back here and give them all a big party.” – Sapa