Ernie Els could be viewed as a man apart in this week's Toyota World Matchplay Championship, starting at Wentworth on Thursday. The South African has effectively owned this title in recent years (winning in 1994, 1995 and 1996) but, aside from attempting a remarkable four-timer, Els is the only major winner of 1997 in the elite invitational field.
Tiger Woods (US Masters), Justin Leonard (British Open) and Davis Love III (US PGA) all had to turn down invitations, due to previous commitments, leaving Els, the US Open champion, as this season's sole major winner in the field.
And, given his obvious liking for the Wentworth course and the event's format, Els is quite rightly installed as 9 to 4 favourite to lift the top prize with Europe's number one Colin Montgomerie, who is more aware than anyone of Els's love for the big occasion, priced at 7 to 2. If those odds appear just a little prohibitive, then the 20 to 1 on offer for Darren Clarke might be a bit more tempting. Clarke likes Wentworth (he finished runner-up to Ian Woosnam in the Volvo PGA there in May) and also likes the man-toman combat of matchplay.
9-4 - Ernie Els (SA).
7-2 - Colin Montgomerie (Scot).
5-1 - Phil Mickelson (USA).
6-1 - Nick Price (Zim).
12-1 - Vijay Singh (Fiji).
16-1 - Frank Nobilo (NZ), Jesper Parnevik (Swe), Ian Woosnam (Wal).
20-1 - Darren Clarke (Ire), Steve Elkington (Aus).
25-1 - Brad Faxon (USA).
100-1 - Tsukasa Watanabe (Jap).
Each-way 1/2 odds 1-2.
Prices supplied courtesy of Ladbrokes.
