Golf Scottish OpenThere was scarcely a moment's doubt that Ernie Els would win the Scottish Open yesterday and the big man duly did what he needed to do with a two-under-par 69 to finish five strokes clear.
That had been his margin at the start of the day, and even though a pair of fives at the second and third holes, one of them for a bogey, let Darren Clarke creep to within three shots, the South African merely stepped on the gas and motored away to become the first man to win the championship twice.
"I said to Ricci (Roberts, his caddie) that I had to start playing the way I'd played all week. I kept my nerve. I'm proud of that," said Els, who led at the end of every round after his 64 on the opening day.
Birdies at the sixth and ninth put him back in firm control and from that point on it was just a question of how many he would win by.
But the man known as the Big Easy insisted it had not been easy. "I had a tough day, a real battle within myself. I overcame that and I'm happy about that. I learned from today. It's tough when you're leading all the way. You don't want to back off or do something stupid."
Clarke and Phillip Price, joint second at the start of the day, finished where they started by matching Els's 69.
Els pocketed €532,000 to take a huge lead in the order of merit. He is the first player to win three titles on the European Tour this season (the others came in the Heineken Classic and Johnnie Walker Classic events), and he also won the first two tournaments on the US Tour, the Mercedes Championship and the Sony Open in Hawaii.
But perhaps the man happiest at the end of the day was Kilkenny's Gary Murphy, who shot a 67 to take a commendable fourth place, his best finish on Tour. It was worth just under $160,000 to the 30-year-old and means not only that he is virtually certain to be holding a full tour card for at least the next 18 months but also that he secured a spot in next week's British Open.
That was the other prize on offer here - a place at Royal St George's, where Els will defend his title. The top seven in a mini order of merit, starting at the Volvo PGA in May, earned places, and these went to Ian Poulter, Alastair Forsyth, Soren Kjeldsen, Greg Owen, Mark McNulty, David Howell and Golding.
They will be joined by the first eight in this event who were eligible. They were Murphy, Iain Pyman, Mark Roe, Charl Schwartzel, David Lynn, Nick O'Hern, Rolf Muntz and Raphael Jacquelin.
Despite his 69 yesterday, Clarke felt he had played poorly after his third-round 64 on Saturday. "I just had too much to do. I needed a fast start and didn't get it," said the Ulsterman. "I didn't swing the club well enough to mount a real challenge and Ernie was in control most of the day."
Price said he was exhausted after his victory at the K Club in the European Open last Sunday. "I was so tired I almost didn't come this week," he said. "To play as well as this, I'm really pleased with myself. I managed to battle through every day."
For Murphy it was a case of keeping his cool. "I just tried to relax all day. It was hard to compose myself and I did what I had to do," he said. "I was more concerned with securing my player's card. That was more important to me than qualifying for the Open. It helped playing with Iain Pyman because we knew each other from amateur days. It helped me to forget about the obscene amount of money we were playing for."
It will be his second British Open appearance, his first having come at Troon in 1997. "I shot close to a million in the first round and didn't make the cut," he recalled.
Colin Montgomerie's closing one-over-par 72 left him one over for the tournament and in a tie for 51st place, which apart from the two successive events this year in which he missed the cut was his worst position in any European event since he was 82nd in last year's Open.
It does not augur well for his prospects in the Open, but he was philosophical.
"I've never won it before so, if I again don't win it, it won't hurt me. I did not play well," he said.
"My driving is okay, my irons are okay, my chipping is okay, but I'm going through a rough time with the putter. I hope I'll get over it some time, next week or next month. But St George's is a different golf course with different greens. I'll have a day's rest and then get down there on Tuesday."
