A ‘century’ worth recording

It used to be that one viewed Ernie Els as a tough course player rather than what the pros call a “lights out” shooter.

In other words it was felt that Ernie was more likely to excel on US Open type courses, where winning scores tend to be high, than “going deep” on wide open courses.

Well that is another myth that has been blasted into oblivion during Els’s exceptional start to 2003 season.

By winning the Johnnie Walker Classic at Lake Karrinyup in Perth (his 13th European Tour title) Els created a remarkable piece of golfing history.

Already the holder of the low 72 hole record on the US PGA Tour, when he was 31 under par in his victory in the Mercedes Championships in January, Els’s winning total of 259 (-29) in Perth was the lowest winning score to par ever recorded on the European Tour, beating the previous best of 261 (-27) by Jerry Anderson in the European Masters – Swiss Open at Crans-sur-Sierre in 1984.

The day before, Els had also set the European Tour low record for 54 holes when he ended the third round on 23 under par 193, and his 10-shot winning margin over the Australian duo of Stephen Leaney and Andre Stolz was also the biggest in the tournament’s history, beating the eight shot win recorded by Retief Goosen last year.

Added to that his scores after each round: 64 (-8), 129 (-15), 193 (-23) and 259 (-29) were, respectively, the lowest of the 2003 season, and his third round lead and winning margin were each the biggest of the year.

Not only did Els consolidate his position at the top of both the US and European Tour orders of merit but he reached a remarkable “century” – 100 under par for the 20 rounds he has played in five tournaments in 2003.

His par-busting has given him a stroke average of 66.8 per round.

At Kapalua in Hawaii Els shattered the US PGA Tour's 72-hole scoring record in relation to par, closing with a 6-under 67 to finish at 31 under. The previous record was 29 under, set by Joe Durant through the first four rounds of the 2001 Bob Hope Chrysler Classic. Els finished at 261, breaking by five shots the tournament record set four years previously by David Duval.

"I'm not trying to send a message to anybody," Els said. "I'm just trying to prove to myself that I can play well. Let's see where it takes me."

Interestingly Els told the the official website of the European Tour. “I don’t think I have ever played better than this on the world stage and I feel I have stepped up another gear now. But I feel I can still improve and I want to keep working on my game and keep doing what I am doing.”

Stephen Leaney, one of the joint runners-up, put Els’s form in perspective. “If somebody had said at the start of the week I would have shot 19 under par and lost by 10, I would have been pretty upset, but what can you do, I can’t play any better than that,” said the winner of last season’s Linde German Masters.

This is how Ernie got to 100 under par in just 20 rounds, in the process winning four times in five starts.

Mercedes Championships

Plantation course, Kapalua
261 – 64 65 65 67 – 31 under par

Sony Open

Waialane CC
264 – 66 65 66 67 – 16 under par

Caltex Masters – Singapore

Laguna National G&GC
279 – 69 67 70 73 – 9 under
*2nd to Lian-Wei Zhang (China)

Heineken Classic

Royal Melbourne GC
273 - 70 72 66 65 – 15 under par

Johnnie Walker Classic

Lake Karrinyup, Perth
259 – 64 65 64 66 – 29 under par