Wentworth, Oct 18: Defending champion Ernie Els set a new tournament record as he beat Fiji's Vijay Singh 5&4 in the semi-final of the HSBC World Match Play Championship at Wentworth. The South African trailed by four holes at one stage during the morning round but won a record eight straight holes either side of lunch to reach 4-up.
Els' charge finished at the 5th but he went five-up at the 7th before Singh clawed holes back at the 8th and 11th.
But the fifth seed could not maintain his fightback and lost the 13th to a birdie before Els won on the 14th.
Thomas Bjorn claimed a two-hole lead over Open champion Ben Curtis at the halfway stage of their semi-final.
Bureau Report