Come in No2

Ernie Els may have an aversion to the number 2, but it did not bother him in the numbers game that was the Nedbank Golf Challenge at Sun City.

Years ago, as an amateur, Els started a tournament at the Durban Country Club with an horrendous 8 after losing two balls off the tee at the first. They were both No2’s and to this day Els has not allowed a “deuce” anywhere near his bag.

Given this, the omens for him were not very good coming into TWO Million Dollar Challenge.

Els is the No2 golfer in the world and he was playing in the 20th version of the tournament in the year 2000.

In the end, though, 2 turned out to be an important number for South Africa’s favourite golfer in the figures that really counted.

As the tension mounted in the scrap to win golf’s biggest cheque Els played his final three holes in 2,3,4 – a total of 9 strokes for the par three 16th, the par four 17th and the par four 18th.

Against this his two closest challengers, Lee Westwood and Nick Price, played this stretch in level par a total of 11 and “two” strokes worse than Els.

In the sudden death play-off, Els and Westwood matched par threes at the first extra hole, the 16th and then at the 17th Els had the chance to play what, for the moment, is the richest stroke in the history of golf.

He had struck his approach to some 1,5 metres from the hole and he then stepped up and holed a putt that was worth $13 333 a centimetre. It meant he birdied the 17th four times out of the five he played it.

By posting a total of 268 strokes, plus six more strokes in the play-off, it meant Els’victory had come at the rate of $7300 a stroke – or, at the current exchange rate, R56 210 every time he hit the ball.

Apart from winning the biggest prize ever presented in golf Els had the additional satisfaction of beating Europe’s No1 in what became a purely matchplay situation – thus avenging the defeat he suffered at the hands of Westwood at Wentworth earlier this year.

In the end justice was done because Westwood had taken the lead with a stroke of massive good fortune.

Having holed the trickiest of downhill putts on the slick 13th – where moments before John Huston had four-putted and where Thomas Bjorn’s challenge would flounder – Westwood was making a hash of the long 14th.

He had gone for the green with his driver, only to come up short in the big bunker guarding the front of the green. His third shot plopped into the section of the trap right by the green and when he played his fourth shot the ball came out fast and it seemed he would be fighting to make par five.

Instead the ball hit the flag square on and ducked into the hole. Westwood had a birdie four – instead of a potential six – as well as the lead.

In the end the young Englishman from Worksop, who will surely add some major titles to his name, made “two” eagles and 23 birdies in 72 holes. Els made an eagle and 23 birdies but the difference was the double bogey five Westwood ran up at the short fourth in round two.

Now the big question must be whether Els and Westwood decided to share the 2 million before they went out for the play-off?