Els hurls down challenge to Tiger's supremacy

Five wins in six events sets South African on collision course with Woods and reopens debate on who is world No 1

There is room for only one No 1 golfer and recently there has not been much doubt about the identity of the world's best. Statistically, Tiger Woods still has a huge advantage on the world rankings, but for the first time in four years the subject is about to be opened for debate once more. This has little to do with the entry on to the men's circuit, for one week only, of Annika Sorenstam, the women's world No 1, and everything to do with the remarkable form of Ernie Els.

In Perth yesterday, Els claimed his fourth victory of the year, a final round of 66 giving him victory by 10 shots from Stephen Leaney and Andre Stolz with a record-breaking 29-under par. No wonder Woods decided his delayed start to the season had better be a good one. Woods underwent arthroscopic surgery to remove a cyst in his left knee in December and only returned at the Buick Invitational in San Diego. Tiger does not do dress rehearsals and despite a slow start to the tournament, there was an inevitability about the way he rose to the top of the leaderboard after three rounds.

If his long game betrayed the hint of rust, his short game was as sharp as ever, possibly more so since for much of his lay-off it was all he was able to practise. While the Tiger was away, however, Els came out to play. In five events so far this year, the South African's worst result is second place. He began at the Mercedes Championship in Hawaii, where the winners from the previous season always get the USPGA Tour underway. Els took this élite field to the cleaners, winning by eight strokes and establishing a US Tour record of 31-under par for a 72-hole event.

A week later he hopped to another Hawaiian island and won the Sony Open in a playoff over Aaron Baddeley. Moving on straight to Singapore, he lost to China's Lian-Wei Zhang despite leading by a stroke with a hole to play. Zhang's birdie at the 72nd hole, to Els's bogey, may go down as one of the most remarkable incidents of the year.

At the Heineken Classic at Royal Melbourne, Els defended his title despite trailing by 10 strokes at the half-way stage. He took a family holiday in Bali the following week before destroying the field and the Lake Karrinyup course to win the Johnnie Walker Classic. His score of 29-under par gave him the European Tour record to go with his US mark.

In 20 rounds of golf this year, Els is a sensational 100-under par. Only one of those rounds was over par and only four – the last two in Singapore and the first two in Melbourne – were not in the 60s. He has earned £1.57m.

"The way I am playing now is some of the best golf I have ever played," Els said, somewhat understatedly. "The whole package is pretty good at the moment. I feel I have moved up another gear, but I still want to improve. I want to keep working on my game and keep doing what I'm doing."

Where has this form come from? There was the Open Championship victory at Muirfield last July, of course. It was a moment of fulfilment and he made sure he enjoyed it. That the 'Big Easy' did not rest there is perhaps due to his work with the sports psychologist Jos Vantisphout, who swept away the demons that came from finishing runner-up in three majors, usually to Woods, in 2000.

"The biggest stride I have made has been working with Jos on the mental side," Els explained. "I never thought it would be such a big thing, but it has turned out to be a very significant change in my game."

But the birth of his son, Ben, in October may prove a defining moment. With two beautiful children and a loving wife, Els was very much a contented family man. In his next round of golf he scored an approximate 60 on his way to beating Colin Montgomerie 6 and 5 in the Cisco World Match Play at Wentworth.

The confidence he gained from that round has driven the 33-year-old on and on. He beat Vijay Singh and Sergio Garcia to win the title for the fourth time and, later in the year, won the Nedbank Challenge at Sun City for the third time in four years. The first prize was $2m and he won by eight strokes. His winning streak, therefore, stretches back to five victories in six events, and six in eight.

Els said then: "This year I have been more disciplined and had more patience. I made peace with the fact that Tiger was out there and that I didn't have to go chasing after him any more. I went out to play my game. Unlike 2001, I stuck to my guns and didn't care all that much about the other guys."

Now Els will not be drawn on the Tiger question. "It will come to a head sooner or later," he said. "You guys are probably going to write it up quite a bit now."

Happy to oblige. The first tournament they will both be playing in is the Accenture World Matchplay at La Costa in just over a week's time, though they could only meet in the final. Then there is the Dubai Classic, if it happens, Bay Hill, the Players Championship and, of course, the Masters.

With two US Opens in the bag alongside his Open title, Els has set himself five years to capture the other two majors, the Masters and the USPGA. He has been close at Augusta before, his self-destruction on the back nine last year something he would like to put right.

He has changed equipment companies and has that golfer's glow of being ultra confident with, in particular, his new driver and new ball. Everything is fitting in to place. "He seems a very happy bunny," was the simple assessment of one casual observer of the game. "He could be awesome this year." Tiger beware.

JOHNNIE WALKER CLASSIC (Perth) Leading final scores (GB or irl unless stated): 259 E Els (SA) 64 65 64 66. 269 S Leaney (Aus) 68 67 68 66; A Stolz (Aus) 68 68 67 66. 271 J Rose 68 69 69 65; R Allenby (Aus) 69 64 72 66; R Goosen (SA) 72 65 66 68; D Smail (NZ) 68 71 64 68; J-F Remesy (Fr) 68 67 67 69. 272 N Fasth (Swe) 74 65 66 67; C Kamps (SA) 71 67 64 70. 274 I Garrido (Sp) 69 69 68 68; M Long (NZ) 71 66 68 69; N Green (Aus) 73 68 64 69; C Spence (Aus) 73 68 63 70. 275 C Parry (Aus) 68 69 72 66; C Downes (Aus) 67 73 68 67; R Karlsson (Swe) 69 71 66 69. 276 P Casey 71 70 67 68; D Howell 71 69 67 69; P Mcginley 67 71 68 70; S Yates 72 68 65 71.

HOW THE 'BIG EASY' HAS MASTERED THE FAIRWAYS

Els has won four of his five events in 2003, and including last season he has won five out of six dating back to the Nedbank Challenge, and six out of eight from the Cisco World Match Play.

ELS' SIX FROM EIGHT

21 October 2002 – Cisco World Match Play Beat Sergio Garcia 2&1 in final.

1 December 2002 – Nedbank Challenge Won by eight strokes from Colin Montgomerie.

13 Jan 2003 – Mercedes Championship Won by eight strokes from KJ Choi and Rocco Mediate thanks to record-breaking 31-under par 261.

20 January 2003 – Sony Open Beat Aaron Baddeley on second play-off hole.

27 January 2003 – Caltex Masters Finished second, a stroke behind Lian-Wei Zhang.

3 February 2003 – Heineken Classic Won by one stroke from Nick Faldo and Peter Lonard.

16 February 2003 – Johnny Walker Classic Won by 10 strokes from Stephen Leaney and Andre Stolz.

Tiger Woods set a modern USPGA Tour record by winning six straight events from the NEC World Invitational in 1999 to the AT&T Pro-Am in 2000. From the Deutsche Bank Open in 1999 to the 2000 AT&T, Woods won 10 out of 14 official events.Byron Nelson holds the record for the longest winning streak, 11, in 1945, when he won 18 of 30 events.