Dubai Desert Classic: Ernie Els followed up his dramatic victory in the Dubai Desert Classic with another remarkable success in the Middle East yesterday. Six shots behind with 15 holes remaining at the Qatar Masters in windy Doha, Els produced the lowest round of the tournament - a sparkling seven-under-par 65 - to pip Sweden's Henrik Stenson by one.
The stunning seven-birdie comeback made the South African, who had been down in 81st place after an opening 73, the first player to win back-to-back titles on the European Tour since Vijay Singh in 2001.
In Dubai, Els had rolled in an 18-foot eagle putt on the final green to snatch victory. This time a two-putt birdie on the last won him the trophy, although there was a long wait before he could celebrate.
Stenson and Australian Richard Green would have forced a play-off with an eagle on the 581-yard 18th. But doing an 'Ernie' proved beyond them - Green hit a bad drive and took six; then Stenson failed to hole his chip from the back edge.
"This is a great win as well," said Els, after achieving the target he set himself when he teed off in joint 10th spot.
"Normally when you aim at a low score you don't do it. But here I did - and with two wins under my belt, now I can't wait to get to America." After stopping off briefly in England - "to give my kids a hug" - Els flies to Florida this morning for the Bay Hill Invitational, Players' Championship and then the big one - the Masters at Augusta, of course.
That is the title the world number three craves more than any other (Phil Mickelson beat him by one last year), and he added: "I really feel good, but you can't get cocky in this game. You've just got to shoot the numbers." Just like last week - when leader Miguel Angel Jimenez three-putted the last - it again took some help from those he was chasing for him to win.
As Els made his late charge for the line with birdies at the 10th, 12th, 16th and 18th the two front-runners both buckled.
Stenson failed to get up and down from sand at the short 13th, then double-bogeyed the next after driving into rough - while Green ran up a six on the long 10th and three-putted the 13th.
Stenson very nearly repaired the damage. He birdied the 15th and 16th, and his 35-foot attempt for another on the 156-yard next agonisingly lipped out.
Ireland's Paul McGinley slipped further down the leaderboard with a second consecutive 76 to end on 294.
Els's victory returns him to the top of the Order of Merit he has won for the last two seasons. But that is of minor importance - what matters is his confidence is sky high for the final countdown to the first major of the year.
Shaking his head in amazement was Belgian sports psychologist Jos Vanstiphout, with whom Els was furious on Thursday.
The former Open and US Open champion said that before he teed off he was given "12 minutes of the most ridiculous stuff I've ever thought of" - but while there still appears to be a little tension between the two of them, Vanstiphout was lost in admiration.
"The only thing I know now is that I know nothing," he said. "That was just a fantastic win - and what a boon for him going to the States. This one surprised even me. He's become mentally so strong and knows that he can beat anybody at any time."
Els's last victory in America was the Memorial Tournament last June. He hopes the wait for his next one is soon to be over - and maybe his 11-year wait for a Masters green jacket as well.
Final Totals
(Irish and British unless stated, par 72)
276 - Ernie Els (Rsa) 73 69 69 65 (€188,764).
277 - Henrik Stenson (Swe) 67 73 66 71 (€125,838).
279 - Pierre Fulke (Swe) 66 70 73 70, Richard Green (Aus) 67 68 73 71 (€63,765 each).
280 - James Kingston (Rsa) 70 72 69 69, Robert Karlsson (Swe) 69 67 74 70, Barry Lane 71 69 69 71.
281 - Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa) 72 71 70 68, Raphael Jacquelin (Fra) 70 68 73 70, Gregory Havret (Fra) 71 67 72 71.
282 - Steve Webster 73 69 69 71.
283 - Graeme Storm 71 71 72 69, Jyoti Randhawa (Ind) 73 70 71 69, David Park 68 70 74 71, Marcus Fraser (Aus) 69 71 70 73.
284 - Charl Schwartzel (Rsa) 70 75 70 69, Ricardo Gonzalez (Arg) 69 70 74 71, Thaworn Wiratchant (Tha) 69 68 75 72, Niclas Fasth (Swe) 68 71 69 76.
285 - Miguel Angel Martin (Spa) 70 71 74 70, David Lynn 72 71 72 70, Simon Yates 71 73 71 70, Steven O'Hara 70 74 71 70, Bradley Dredge 70 74 70 71, Nick Dougherty 73 68 71 73, Arjun Atwal (Ind) 70 69 71 75.
286 - Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind) 71 73 73 69, Richard Sterne (Rsa) 72 71 73 70, David Drysdale 70 73 71 72, Clay Devers (US) 70 71 72 73, Anders Hansen (Den) 71 71 71 73.
287 - Peter Heblom (Swe) 70 73 74 70, Christopher Hanell (Swe) 71 70 75 71, Soren Hansen (Den) 70 72 74 71, Andrew Pitts (US) 69 74 73 71, Terry Pilkadaris (Aus) 72 72 72 71, Stephen Dodd 71 74 70 72, Darren Fichardt (Rsa) 69 75 70 73.
288 - Garry Houston 67 76 76 69, Mads Vibe-Hastrup (Den) 72 73 74 69, Prayad Marksaeng (Tha) 71 72 73 72, Soren Kjeldsen (Den) 69 75 72 72, Scott Drummond 74 71 71 72, Robert Coles 71 70 74 73, Thongchai Jaidee (Tha) 71 71 73 73, Nobuhito Sato (Jpn) 69 72 73 74, Jose Manuel Lara (Spa) 70 73 71 74, Miles Tunnicliff 73 68 71 76.
289 - Lee Sung-man (Kor) 73 70 75 71, Gary Emerson 72 72 74 71, Anthony Kang (US) 68 72 77 72, Christian Cevaer (Fra) 73 70 74 72, Paul Broadhurst 73 68 74 74, Robert-Jan Derksen (Ned) 74 71 70 74.
290 - Martin Maritz (Rsa) 75 70 74 71, Anthony Wall 70 73 74 73, Mark Roe 74 70 73 73, Matthew Kent (Rsa) 74 71 72 73, Marten Olander (Swe) 71 72 71 76.
291 - Philip Golding 74 70 76 71, Jose-Filipe Lima (Por) 75 68 76 72, Carlos Rodiles (Spa) 70 75 74 72, Rolf Muntz (Ned) 71 73 74 73, Adam Groom (Aus) 69 75 73 74, Peter Hanson (Swe) 70 74 71 76.
292 - Maarten Lafeber (Ned) 69 71 77 75, Johan Axgren (Swe) 74 69 74 75, Adam Fraser (Aus) 71 74 71 76.
293 - Paul Lawrie 70 74 78 71, Kenneth Ferrie 74 70 73 76.
294 - Gary Rusnak (US) 70 74 78 72, Zhang Lian-wei (Chn) 71 74 74 75, Paul McGinley (Ire) 71 71 76 76 (€1,696).
296 - Ian Woosnam 72 72 76 76.
304 - Fredrik Andersson Hed (Swe) 69 75 88 72.
EUROPEAN TOUR ORDER OF MERIT
1 Ernie Els (Rsa)€555,286.23
2 Retief Goosen (Rsa)€428,297.00
3 Ian Poulter (Eng)€344,167.30
4 Miguel Angel Jiménez (Spa)€340,730.28
5 Nick O'Hern (Aus) €311,264.30
6 Stephen Dodd (Wal)€282,481.57
7 Henrik Stenson (Swe)€244,629.59
8 Niclas Fasth (Swe)€237,829.50
9 Nick Dougherty (Eng)€234,447.23
10 Gregory Havret (Fra)€229,424.05
11 Charl Schwartzel (Rsa)€215,930.54
12 Thomas Björn (Den)€204,823.57
13 Adam Scott (Aus)€187,437.23
14 Colin Montgomerie (Sco)€173,213.23
15 Thongchai Jaidee (Thai)€169,615.52
16 James Kingston (Rsa)€169,022.47
17 Richard Green (Aus)€166,151.59
18 Jyoti Randhawa (Ind)€157,723.58
19 PADRAIG HARRINGTON (Ire)€138,429.60
20 Robert Karlsson (Swe)€138,278.32
