Els wins seventh World Matchplay title

Ernie Els has done something no one else has winning the HSBC World Match Play Championship for he seventh time and he did it in impressive style. When you consider that you must beat 4 players straight to win the tournament it is a fairly impressive result, even with the top players missing. Els beat Colin Montgomerie, Andres Romero, Henrik Stenson and, finally, the reigning US Open Champion Cabrera 6&4 to win the 1000000 pound prize money. The win shoots Els to the top of the European order of merit.

It might be said that this is a win that Els needed having gone winless since last December in a streak that even had sports writers saying he was past it. In an interview Ernie told reporters:

“This is a very important tournament to me and my career. We had some really fine players here this week and it needed good golf to get through.

“Obviously the World Number One, Mr Woods, wasn’t here this week but it’s a tough one to win. It’s very satisfying to win any tournament but I’ve always been a fan of this kind of match play event.

“I’ve played some good golf these last two years and although it might seem that I’m a very patient guy, in fact I am quite impatient when it comes to getting results. So to get a win, and to play the way I did this week, is really satisfying. Hopefully this opens up the doors for me to get other wins.”

Path to Victory

Ernie Els	v	Colin Montgomerie
Ernie Els won 6 & 5

Andres Romero	v	Ernie Els
Ernie Els won 6 & 5

Henrik Stenson	v	Ernie Els
Ernie Els won 3 & 2

Angel Cabrera	v	Ernie Els
Ernie Els won 6 & 4