ERNIE ELS made a long day's journey to a thrilling victory in the 97th US Open, under a torrid sun here at Congressional CC yesterday. Out on the course at 7.0 a.m. to complete a rain-interrupted third round, it was almost 12 hours later when he captured the blue rib and of American golf for a second time.

His triumph, after a final round of 69 for a four-under-par aggregate of 276 - four under par - was the culmination of a remarkable, four-way battle involving two Americans, a South African and a Scot. And when it had been decided, Colin Montgomerie was runner-up for a second time in this championship.

Admirably gracious in defeat Montgomerie wept at the disappointment of yet another failure. "This major business is getting me down," he said. "The longer I go without a win, the more difficult it will become." Then, forcing a brave smile, he added: "Who knows, if I knock on the door often enough, hopefully it will open one day."

Bitterly ironic for the Scot was that Els also happened to be his conqueror at Oakmont in 1994 when the South African beat Montgomerie and Loren Roberts in a play-off for the title. And there was also the pain of a sudden-death defeat by Steve Elkington in the 1996 USPGA Championship and a third-place finish behind Tom Kite in the 1992 US Open.

A par at the 71st hole, where he played a glorious approach to 15 feet right of the target, gave Els the decisive lead, though he had held it earlier in the round in a four-way battle with Montgomerie, Tom Lehman and Jeff Maggert. And in the way of things at this level, mistakes by his opponents became a crucial ingredient in the overall equation.

Meanwhile, Ireland's lone survivor, Darren Clarke, had reason to be pleased with having survived 72 holes in his third US Open. In fact he finished with an admirable 70 for a 10-over-par aggregate of 290, a share of 43rd place and prize money of $ 11,000.

"It's been a good week, particularly to have experienced such a fantastic course," he said afterwards. "Unfortunately my iron play wasn't as sharp as it might have been, so I had little chance of reaching my objective of a top-15 finish.

"But I feel I'm making progress. I would certainly have been much higher up, but for yesterday's finish." Clarke was referring to scores of bogey, double-bogey, bogey at the 16th, 17th and 18th on Saturday, after he had been warned, ironically by a European Tour official, John Paramor, for slow play.

He concluded: "I'm now looking forward to coming back for the USPGA Championship at Winged Foot in August. And I'll be staying on for the World Series a week later. But I haven't made any decision yet on whether to go for my tour card here at the end of the season. There's no doubt the whole set-up here is fantastic."

The key to yesterday's round was a strong finish. Clarke hit a sandwedge to six feet for a birdie at the long 15th and he had the considerable satisfaction of going on to birdie the last, when a 40-foot putt ran unerringly into the hole.

Jose-Maria Olazabal, playing in the championship for the first time since 1994, confirmed his physical well-being by shooting a final round of 71 for a share of 16th place on 285. But it was a grim exercise for Nick Faldo who, in the company of Tiger Woods, shot a 76 for 291 to be tied 48th.

"We lost five minutes to the media," he said bitterly, in a reference to a warning for slow play which he blamed on the number of reporters following the match. And Woods, who shot 72 to be tied 19th on 286 said: "I'm glad the suffering is over. That course wore me out. I hit some good shots and I hit some bad shots and it took its toll on me."

Asked about his putting, he said: "Oh man, I putted horrible this week."

In the battle for the title, Maggert was first to falter seriously, with a bogey at the 16th where he hit his approach into the stands. Then Montgomerie bogeyed the 17th where an over-zealous six-iron approach was in thick fringe off the back left of the green. From there, he played an excellent, downhill chip to five feet, but missed the putt.

Then Lehman cracked. And his was the most spectacular failure insofar as he pulled a seven-iron approach at the 17th into the pond which guards both it and the 18th green. Those efforts contrasted sharply with the five-iron precision of Els at the same hole.

By a happy accident, he found himself hitting first when he and Montgomerie both used three-wood off the tee. "That was the key," he said. "When I had my first practice round here last Sunday, I knew the 17th would be the most crucial hole." He added: "I'm not saying that I intended to. be hitting first there, but I think it might have affected Monty's shot."

Then came his tee-shot to the 18th, where he made certain of being in the right half of the green. At that stage of the battle for the title, he had no intention of flirting with the pin which was on the left, close to the water.

Afterwards, Els admitted that he was extremely tense as he eased a 40-foot approach putt down the slope, with the water beyond. And his nervous system came under increased strain when the ball eased four feet past. But he was equal to the challenge, rolling the uphill putt straight into the centre of the cup.

Significantly, the South African had extracted a greater return out of the early morning holes than any of the other three challengers. While Lehman birdied the 14th and 18th to lead on five under par after 54 holes, Els birdied three-in-a-row from the long 15th to complete a back nine of 33.

So, he started the final round on three under. And he seemed to be losing touch with the title when he slipped to two under with a bogey on the sixth. From there, however, he birdied the seventh (20-foot putt) and eighth (40-footer) to share the lead at that stage with Lehman and Maggert on fours under.

He then grabbed the lead on his own with a birdie at the 187-yard 12th, where he hit a five-iron to 10 feet. And with the pressure increasing, he retained his composure despite a bogey at the next, where he over-shot the green. Finally, it came down to competitive nerve and in that context, it would be difficult to question the credentials of a player who has won the World Matchplay title for the last three years.