VIRGINIA WATER, England, 18 October 2004 — Ernie Els beat Lee Westwood 2&1 in a gripping final at Wentworth yesterday to win a record sixth World Match Play Championship and claim the biggest first prize in golf.
The South African world number two celebrated his 35th birthday by pocketing a check for 1.0 million pounds ($1.8 million) after clinching his third successive victory in the tournament. The two players were locked together at the halfway point of the final but Els moved two ahead with an eagle at the 22nd hole and played solid golf to keep Westwood, ranked 37 places below him, at bay.
The British Ryder Cup player, who had inflicted two of Els’ four defeats at the World Match Play event, did pull a hole back with a delightful iron shot to birdie the 33rd but Els immediately restored his two-hole cushion.
Westwood, former European No. 1 and Match Play Champion in 2000, made a courageous birdie on the 35th hole but Els sank a snaking 20-foot putt to match his opponent and claim the 52nd title of his professional career.
Victorious Garcia Shrugs Off the Pressure
In Pula, Mallorca, Spain, Sergio Garcia lived up to his billing as favorite by clinching the Mallorca Classic title by four strokes yesterday for his first European Tour victory of the season.
Garcia had to come from three shots behind Britain’s Simon Khan after the first two holes of the final round, accelerating to a closing three-under-par 67 and a 12-under-par total of 268 as he claimed his fifth European title.
Khan finished in second placed after a closing 71.
Khan, who had shared the lead overnight with Garcia, birdied the first to break three clear, but then also threw in two bogeys to let back in an opponent who, at number 11, was 57 places ahead of him in the world rankings.
Six birdies in 11 holes then turned the tables as Garcia established an unassailable lead over Khan, the Wales Open winner in June.
Another Spaniard, Carlos Rodiles, finished third, five strokes behind Garcia.
Lehman, Geiberger Share Greater Greensboro Lead
Former British Open champion Tom Lehman defied difficult winds to join Brent Geiberger atop a crowded leaderboard Saturday after three rounds of the Greater Greensboro Classic.
Lehman, who won the Open in 1996, carded a three-under-pa 69. Geiberger, the overnight leader, held onto a share of the lead with a 71 for 12-under 204.
Heading into the final round, 13 players were within three shots of the lead.
Four players - Matt Gogel, Michael Allen, Joe Ogilvie and David Toms - trailed by one stroke.
Defending champion Shigeki Maruyama of Japan fired a 68 to join Chris Smith on 206, two shots off the pace.
Park Leads Sorenstam by Three
at LPGA World Championship
In Palm Desert, California, South Korean Grace Park held onto her lead in the Samsung World Championship Saturday, but Swedish superstar Annika Sorenstam was closing in with one round to play.
Sorenstam fired a three-under-par 69 to pick up two strokes on Park, who still boasted a three-shot lead in the elite $850,000 event.
Park, who dominated the first two days, began the third round with a four-shot lead over England’s Karen Stupples and South Korean Shi Hyun Ahn, both of whom stumbled in the third round.
But Park bogeyed the last hole and managed just a one-under 71 for a 54-hole total of 16-under 200, allowing those chasing her to remain within striking distance.
Among those chasing is Sorenstam, the best golfer in the world who is gunning for her LPGA Tour-leading sixth title of the year. At 203, she was tied for second with Cristie Kerr and will be in the pairing directly in front of Park on Sunday. Sorenstam missed a short par putt at 17 but regrouped with a nine-foot birdie 18.
Mexico’s Lorena Ochoa shot a 71 and is alone at 205, one stroke better than Juli Inkster (69), Sweden’s Sophie Gustafson (70) and Britain’s Catriona Matthew (72).
Stupples muddled to a 74 and fell seven strokes back. Ahn stumbled to a 77 and is at 210. Amateur standout Michelle Wie shot a five-under 67 but remained well off the pace at 213, 15th in the field of 20.
