Ernie Els carded a final round 69 to complete a one stroke victory over Thomas Bjorn in the WGC American Express Championship in Thomastown, County Kilkenny, Ireland. The win sees him replace Tiger Woods as World No. 2, and consolidates his position at the top of the European Order of Merit.
In an interview earlier in the week, Els said he had put the disappointments of this year’s Majors behind him, and was looking forward confidently to the year’s remaining tournaments. His confidence clearly showed, completing four rounds in the 60s for an 18-under par total.
Despite playing with a shoulder injury, Woods finished ninth at ten under par after a third consecutive 70. However, he has now seen his World Ranking position slip from first, to second, and now third in the space of a month, and remains without a strokeplay victory in 2004. A week or two in Barbados should cheer him up though, especially if the rumours of his impending marriage to to Elin Nordegren are to be believed.
With only two of Europe’s Ryder Cup winning stars making the cut, and only a handful of otherwise household names in attendance, my expectations for the final day’s play of The Heritage at Woburn were perhaps understandably low. However, my pessimism was unfounded, as the quality of golf played on Sunday not only made for a great tournament, but also (re)opened my eyes to the high standard of golf on tour, not only among the top dozen or so golfers, but right down to 125th ranked player and beyond.
What do you call someone who’s played in relative obscurity for most of her professional career, only to surge to shoot a blisteringly-hot 11-under 60 in California?