Els keen to show who is matchplay master

Tiger Woods, winner of his last five tournaments, is sure to draw the biggest crowd as the battle for golf's biggest cheque starts at Wentworth today.

But Ernie Els would love nothing more than to remind everybody who has been the dominant figure at the World Matchplay Championship over the past 12 years.

Seven of the 16-strong field - five Europeans and Americans Woods and Jim Furyk, the top two in the world - are looking for the £1 million first prize as the best possible preparation for next week's Ryder Cup. Els, though, simply wants to taste success again nine months into a year where there has been none.

Sunday will do nicely - especially if it follows a semi-final victory over the world number one the previous day.

The 36-year-old was unable to defend the title last year because of the knee surgery he had undergone following his sailing accident during the summer.

But now he is back, only as the sixth seed, but as the man who has already lifted the trophy a record six times. Including the last three he appeared in.

Els has a terrible record in the sport's other matchplay tournament - the one in California each February - but he has won 22 of his 26 games over the West Course since making his debut as US Open champion in 1994.

Woods was not even on the scene then, of course, and Els set a record of 11 victories in a row before he lost the 1997 final to Vijay Singh. If he beats Angel Cabrera in the opening round he will equal that record.

"I think 36-hole matchplay is different to 18-hole match play," he said today. "You've got to play well for a much longer period of time and it gives you the best indication of who is the better player on the day.

"I've always enjoyed that. I've been behind quite a few times in the past and won some matches where I could never have done it in 18 holes.

"I think another factor is because I'm playing at home (Els lives on the Wentworth estate). I obviously love sleeping in my own bed - it makes a big change from sleeping in a hotel room."

Colin Montgomerie, four times a winner on the course and hoping to stay on course for a fifth by beating Ryder Cup team-mate David Howell in the opening round, made the same point, but caused some laughter the way he put it.

"I look forward to this event. I stay in my own bed, which is a very rare thing nowadays," he said before quickly adding: "I didn't mean that that way. On my own, on my own."

Whether Els can triumph yet again remains to be seen. Even though he lost a play-off to Australian Adam Scott in Singapore on Sunday he states: "Obviously my form hasn't been that great, but I think it's been quite understandable after what I've been through."

Woods starts against compatriot Shaun Micheel, who was second to him at the US PGA championship last month and won that title in 2003.