Els out to tame Tiger

BRITISH OPEN champion Ernie Els declared himself ready to take on Tiger Woods after cruising to his second Scottish Open title and fifth win of the year at Loch Lomond.

Els carded a final-round 69 for a 17-under-par total of 267, five shots clear of Ryder Cup team-mates Phil Price and Darren Clarke, with Ireland’s Gary Murphy enjoying his best finish two shots further back in fourth.

The world number two collected the winner’s cheque for £366,660 and could earn more than £1m in the space of seven days if he can successfully defend his Open title at Sandwich.

The wire-to-wire victory also maintains Els’ remarkable form on the European Tour this season, with three victories, two second places and three other top-six finishes in his eight strokeplay events so far.

The 33-year-old also won back-to -back tournaments in America at the start of the year and has a worst finish of joint 38th on either side of the Atlantic.

“Tiger is the number one player in the world and we all know that”, said Els, who had been anxious not to repeat blowing a 54-hole lead as he had done in Singapore and Dubai this season.

“But if I play the way I can and want to play, I can compete against him and I feel I am a different player from a couple of years ago and feel I can take up the challenge better than I have in the past.

“I’ve won a couple of times back-to-back this season and played well in the majors so I have more confidence than I’ve had in a long time. Stamina is not going to be a problem after the two week’s off I had before this week. I should be just warming up.

“The Open is a totally different week but I have confidence in my game,” he said.

Starting the day with a five-shot lead, Els dropped only his third shot of the week on the second hole, three-putting from long range, and a birdie from playing partner Clarke on the next reduced the gap to three shots.

Clarke could have piled on even more pressure on the fifth after a superb approach to 10 feet while Els found a greenside bunker, but the world number two got up and down for par and Clarke missed his birdie putt.

Els took full advantage of his reprieve on the next hole with his first birdie of the day, and another on the ninth while Clarke bogeyed saw the 33-year-old re-establish his five-shot cushion.

Price briefly closed the gap to four shots with a birdie at the 10th, but Els responded again with a birdie of his own on the 11th. That was effectively that and the focus switched to the battle for second place.

Price looked well in control until Clarke birdied the 15th and 16th, and both had putts for outright second on the 18th, Price missing from just four feet and Clarke from 15.

“I just played poorly today, it was another day where I didn’t swing the club very well,” said Clarke.

“I had a few opportunities at the start to make some birdies to make a dent in his lead but I didn’t take them. I didn’t swing well enough to mount a real challenge and he was in control most of the day” he said.

Price’s missed putt on the 18th cost him more than £50,000, but the Welshman could not be too concerned after winning £333,330 with his victory in the European Open seven days ago.

“I am absolutely smashed,” Price said after his closing 69. “Two weeks being in contention has really worn me out and to be honest I almost didn’t come this week because I was so tired. To play as well as this I am really pleased with myself.

“I didn’t know what to expect this week and I’ve gone well so let’s hope it’s the same stuff next week.”