Els finds the magic touch for sixth time

World Matchplay Championship: All season, major titles eluded Ernie Els as if with the surreptitious touch of a magician. One moment the big prize was placed tantalisingly before his eyes, the next it was gone.

Now, though, the South African can do no wrong and, a fortnight after winning the WGC-American Express championship, the world's number two captured his sixth HSBC World Matchplay championship title by defeating Lee Westwood by 2 and 1.

Just inside the Wentworth clubhouse, lined up in regal fashion along the walls of the corridor leading to the dining-room, are various clubs donated by past champions. An old persimmon driver presented by Arnold Palmer, a 52-degree wedge given by Gary Player. You get the gist, each club representing how technology has changed down the years, each club representing the hands of greatness.

Yet no one is more entitled to have a club adorn the wall than Els - a driver, incidentally - who has reigned supreme in this event over the past decade.

All that remains to be done now is for the year 2004 to be engraved onto the brass plaque alongside those of 1994, 1995, 1996, 2002 and 2003 after completing a record double hat-trick of matchplay wins.

This win, his fifth victory worldwide this season and the 52nd win of his career, bolstered his bank balance to the tune of £1 million (€1,444,280) and guaranteed he will retain the Volvo Order of Merit, pushing his season's earnings on the PGA European Tour to a record for a single season of €4,061,903.

Yesterday, on his 35th birthday, he left his house that lies adjacent to the 16th fairway - "I love playing here. It's wonderful . . . you get home-cooked meals, you sleep in your own bed. With what we do for a living, that's like being in heaven really," said Els - and stumbled early on in his contest with Westwood.

Three bogeys in the first six holes was not what we've come to expect from Els and, at that stage, he was two down and apparently in some trouble.

Then, as if waking from his slumbers, Els clicked to life. On the seventh, he hit a seven-iron approach to five feet and rolled in the birdie putt. One down. On the ninth, he hit a six-iron approach again to five feet. Another birdie, and the match was all square.

After bogeying the 10th to fall behind again, Els levelled matters on the par five 12th, where he claimed his second eagle of the round to get back level again. The roller-coaster continued on the 16th where he lost to a birdie, only to immediately regain the initiative when Westwood drove out-of-bounds on the 17th. At lunch, the pair were locked together, just as they had started.

But the afternoon's journey was to be a different story, as Els - "I'm very competitive, that's the driving force. In matchplay, you've got to do whatever you can without being unfair," he said - moved ahead for the first time in the match with a birdie on the third (21st) and then eagled the fourth (22nd) for the second time in the day. In the morning, he had hit a seven-iron to eight feet; this time, it was a five-iron to 12 feet.

Although the gap was reduced to one when Westwood birdied the par-three fifth (23rd), hitting a five-iron to three feet, Els regained his two-hole lead on the 10th (28th) when his opponent missed the green and failed to get up and down.

Westwood's putting was to be his real weakness in gathering momentum, but there were times he got a break that could have kick-started a comeback. This was especially true on the seventh (25th) when his five-wood off the tee travelled 275 yards but, rather than lurching into the hazard, settled on the narrow bridge over the ditch. Able to ground his club in the hazard because the bridge was an immovable obstruction, he proceeded to make a safe par to halve the hole.

For five straight holes on the homeward run, Els held his two-hole lead until he three-putted from 35 feet on the 15th (33rd), where Westwood, fighting the effects of a head cold, had played a wonderful six-iron to three feet. He wasn't required to putt out. But, again, he was denied any momentum because he immediately three-putted the next hole for Els to restore his two-hole advantage.

And, in typical Els fashion, the event's record-breaker finished the match in some style.

After Westwood's eagle putt of 25 feet edged up to the hole but refused to drop, Els rolled in his 20-footer for birdie to secure his sixth world matchplay championship victory.

"Coming down the 17th fairway, I knew I needed to make birdie. It wasn't the greatest golf, but I got the job done," conceded Els, who has won 22 of his 26 matches in 10 appearances here.

"In playing matchplay, it is about getting through and adapting to the different circumstances. My game plan was to hit fairways and hit greens but I didn't quite get the iron shots as close to the hole as I would like.

"But, it's a great feeling to win. I don't feel I played as well this year as I did last year (in winning), but you try and get your nose in front and you're saying to the other guy, 'hey, here I am, what are you going to do?'."

Of this latest win, Els reckoned it didn't come up to the standard he set when winning the AmEx at Mount Juliet two weeks ago.

"Winning is one thing, the way you win is another," he commented. "I've won this with grit, rather than flair.

"This is the biggest prize (financially) in golf. As a player, you look at titles first and try to set records and the money comes along. But the majors are still the ones I treasure. This is a great event in its own right, but this is matchplay and totally different (to majors). I'd still like to win the Grand Slam."

If that sounded like a warning to the rest of the world, it is. As he concluded, "I've still got some good years to come."

Who'd doubt that?