Ernie Els won the World Match Play title for a record sixth time on his 35th birthday Sunday, beating Lee Westwood 2 and 1 to earn the biggest prize in golf of ? million (US$1.8 million).
Els' victory on a 20-foot birdie putt at the long 17th was his third straight in the event, matching the three he won from 1994 to 1996. It was his first victory over Westwood in three matches in the championship.
"What a feeling. It's a great feeling," said Els. "The golf might not have been the greatest, but match play is like that. I just concentrated on trying to hit greens and fairways."
Westwood, the 2000 champion who won ?00,000 (US$720,000), as runner up, looked set to take the match to the last.
He was on the green at the par-5 571-yard 17th in two with Els well short in heavy rough. Els chipped on 20 feet short, Westwood got down in two putts for his birdie, then watched as Els, reading his putt perfectly, curled it slightly left to right into the hole.
Els' sixth title broke the record he had shared with Gary Player, who won five times between 1965 and 1973, and Severiano Ballesteros, whose successes came from 1981 to 1991.
Samsung
Annika Sorenstam charged from three shots back over the final five holes to overtake Grace Park and win her fourth Samsung World Championship. Sorenstam, the LPGA's six-time player of the year and winner of six of her 15 tour events this year, shot a closing 5-under 67 to finish 18 under.
The US$206,000 winner's prize put Sorenstam over the US$2 million mark for the fourth consecutive year. No other LPGA player has ever earned as much as US$2 million in a year.
RSS