Ernie Els only has a few months left to make sure the year doesn’t end without a victory, and the World Match Play Championship usually is the perfect place to get that done.
He is the only six-time winner, and part of him feels as though he is the defending champion because he missed last year recovering from knee surgery. Els lives in an estate lining the 16th fairway, and he was in charge of a recent redesign of the West course.
Then again, the Big Easy doesn’t usually see the name Tiger Woods in the 16-man bracket.
And right now, that’s enough to make anyone uneasy.
”He’s an unbelievable talent,” Els said on Wednesday. ”And now with his swing back on track, he’s got all of the belief he wants in his game, and he’s got a lot of ability there. So at the moment, he’s on a pretty nice roll, and it’s for us to step up and try to play better than him.”
Woods starts his three-week tour of England and Ireland by making his first appearance since 1998 in the HSBC World Match Play Championship, which offers the richest prize in golf among official events — about $1,87-million to the winner.
Next week is the Ryder Cup in Ireland, followed by the American Express Championship outside London.
More daunting is what lies behind Woods — a winning streak that began at the British Open in July and reached five straight tournaments two weeks ago at the Deutsche Bank Championship, where he shot 63 and rallied to beat nemesis Vijay Singh.
Woods plays the first round against former PGA champion Shaun Micheel. If he wins that 36-hole match, he would play the winner of Luke Donald-Tim Clark. And that could lead him to a showdown with Els, who first plays Angel Cabrera.
Els has plenty of scar tissue from his encounters with Woods, most of them losses. The South African has been runner-up to Woods seven times, more than any other player.
But at Wentworth? In 36-hole match play?
”If I play him this week, I’ve got as good a chance as ever to beat him because I’ve got a good record here,” Els said.
Woods is number one in the world ranking, but the number two seed at Wentworth. The top seed goes to defending champion Michael Campbell, who opens the tournament against Simon Khan of England.
A record crowd is expected at Wentworth, a pristine estate south-west of London, primarily because of Woods. Title sponsor HSBC commissioned a professor to do an economic report on Woods’s presence in England and Ireland this month, and the professor said he could boost the core golf economy by up to $320-million. — Sapa-AP