Wentworth, Oct 20: Ernie Els beats Thomas Bjorn to win the World Match Play final despite a hole-in-one from the Dane.
Ernie Els collected a record-equalling World Match Play Championship title and a one million pounds (1.67 million USD) prize after comfortably beating Thomas Bjorn 4&3 at Wentworth, UK on Sunday (October 19). The big South African, ranked second in the world, joined countryman Gary Player and Spain's Seve Ballesteros as the only men to win the event five times after a disappointingly one-sided final which was at least lifted by a hole-in-one from an otherwise out-of-sorts Bjorn at the 179-yard (163-metre) 14th. Holder and top seed Els was never headed by the Dane in the 36-hole shootout over the West Course and had taken control by the halfway stage to lead by three holes. Bjorn, a member of the victorious 2002 European Ryder Cup team but unseeded here, lacked the inspiration to dent Els's dominance after a break for lunch and a miscued approach shot cost him further ground at the fifth hole of the second round.


He then badly hooked his drive at the ninth to land in thick undergrowth from which there was no escape and Els found himself five holes up with nine to play.


Bjorn's woes continued at the next after another poor tee shot failed to locate the short 10th green. He pulled one hole back with an eight-metre putt for eagle at the long 12th and then another at the short 14th where his four-iron tee-shot ran straight into the hole to the delight of a sympathetic gallery.


Bjorn won a 37,000 pounds (62,000 USD) Toyota car for the ace, only the third in the tournament's 39-year history.


His radar, though, was badly out at the 15th when he speared a straightforward approach shot through the green and Els only needed to par the hole to close out the match, although it took a fine, curling 7-metre putt to do it.


The first prize is a record for European golf and the biggest on offer anywhere in the world this year, but the event has been criticised in the British media for an entry criteria based on performance in the four majors which failed to produce an elite field.


Top seed and holder Els is a neighbour and close friend of Bjorn, ranked 22nd in the world, who also has a British home on the nearby Wentworth estate, situated about 40km west of London.


Bureau Report