Golf

Els seems primed for battles of best

By BOB HARIG
Published March 15, 2005

The Golf Channel must love Ernie Els . The all-golf-all-the-time network beamed pictures on consecutive Sundays of sun, sand, sheiks, camels and golf from the Persian Gulf. And there was the Big Easy to make it memorable and meaningful.

Els turned an otherwise ho-hum European PGA Tour event Sunday into compelling stuff, shooting a final-round 7-under-par 65 to capture the Qatar Masters in a place called Doha.

Oh, if only it were the real Masters in three weeks, the one Els desperately covets.

Call it the Arabian Sweep or Desert Double, but Els became the first player since Vijay Singh in 2001 to win consecutive European tour events. He also won March 6 at the Dubai Desert Classic in the United Arab Emirates when he eagled the final hole to edge Miguel Angel Jimenez by a stroke.

"I feel really good, but you can't get cocky in this game," Els said. "You've just got to shoot the numbers."

Els was the only player among the top 50 in the world in Qatar. Ironically, while the PGA Tour is grappling with an "appearance fee" issue that has received nearly as much attention as the Tiger Woods - Phil Mickelson showdown at Doral, Els was getting a "promotional service fee" said to be some $400,000 to tee it up at the European event. In Dubai, Els also was paid for his participation, a common practice on the European tour.

But nobody could accuse Els of dogging it. In fact, he was tied for 81st after a first-round 73 in Qatar and came all the way back to win, setting up a big month with the likes of Woods, Mickelson, Els and Singh all on their games.

After a brief stop at his London home on Sunday night, Els was to return to the United States to play in this week's Bay Hill Invitational in Orlando. First up, amazingly, was a member-guest tournament Monday in Palm Beach at Seminole Golf Club with Johann Rupert , a friend of Els.'

"It's a great time to be hitting some form, with the Players Championship next week and the Masters a couple of weeks after that," Els wrote on his Web site.

No doubt.

JANZEN'S WOES: Lee Janzen built a reputation for winning on tough layouts. He won two U.S. Opens. He won the 1995 Players Championship at the TPC-Sawgrass. He won the Buick Classic at Westchester Country Club. But lately, Janzen, 40, is not winning anywhere.

The former Florida Southern star who lives in Orlando began the final round of the Honda Classic just one stroke behind the leaders, but shot 76 and tied for 17th. Janzen has not won since his 1998 U.S. Open title.

It was the 23rd time since that victory that Janzen entered a final round within five strokes of the lead. He has broken 70 just four times.

Janzen said it is easy to pinpoint his slide.

"Putting," he said. "It got to the point where it ruined the rest of my game. I'd get myself in contention and realize that I have to play perfect tee-to-green to have a chance. I had no confidence in my putting. There were a lot of bad rounds on Saturdays and Sundays when I was in contention. ... But I've worked very hard on my putting the last 10 months and I feel very good about my putting."

ANGER MANAGEMENT: Pat Perez has a reputation for being a hot head, and NBC-TV was well aware of it Sunday, choosing not to show some of his actions live. While tied for the lead at the Honda Classic, NBC would not show a taped putt by Perez because he made an obscene gesture after missing. "When the putt missed, he gave the ball the finger," NBC producer Tommy Roy said. "I would have liked to have shown the putt because at the time he was tied for the lead. But that's not appropriate viewing for our network." Perez finished a shot out of a three-way playoff.

AROUND GOLF: It was an early St. Patrick's Day celebration as Ireland's Padraig Harrington won the Honda Classic and countryman Des Smyth won the Champions Tour's SBC Classic. Smyth, 52, is the oldest player to win on the European PGA Tour. He was 48 when he captured the 2001 Madeira Island Open in Portugal. "I'm sure the pubs were open late," Harrington said. ... Harrington's victory moved him to sixth in the Official World Golf Ranking behind Woods, Singh, Els, Mickelson and Retief Goosen . ... Of the top 10, only Goosen, No. 8 Sergio Garcia and No. 10 Stewart Cink have failed to win this year.

[Last modified March 15, 2005, 01:07:17]