Seven-up for Els as the big plan kicks in

So far, so good can be the only conclusion to be drawn following an initial campaign that has seen the 37-year-old South African finish in the top four in two majors and complete a notable 6&4 victory over Angel Cabrera in the final of the HSBC Match Play Championship at Wentworth yesterday.

Scroll down for more

Ernie Els has now won seven World Match Play titles

If only Tiger would turn up on Ernie's home patch more often, rather than Els always having to go to him in America, he would probably be giving the World No 1 a game again already. This, believe it or not, was Els' seventh victory in this championship, on a course where his natural affinity was only strengthened when given the chance to redesign it two years ago. Let's see, a sublime performance featuring 12 birdies, a mammoth first prize of £1million, followed by firing up the private jet to watch his beloved Springboks take on Argentina in Paris in the rugby World Cup semi-final last night. Not a bad life, is it? This first win of the year demonstrated that Els still has the strength to retain his place among the elite. There have been some hard knocks in recent years, starting with that devastating play-off loss to Todd Hamilton in The Open at Troon in 2004. If that defeat caused all sorts of mental scarring, then a bad physical blow arrived the following year when he blew out his knee in a boating accident. When he returned to the game six months later he looked a lost soul, a man wandering the world's circuits without any obvious sense of purpose. Some tough talking went on behind the scenes before Els arrived as a man refreshed at the start of this season. After completing his triumph over the U.S. Open Champion in the purist's final yesterday, Els acknowledged the 'tough road' that he had travelled. 'It's not been easy at times but my wife has been a rock and this represents an important win in my career after what I have been through,' he said. 'Tiger might not have been here, but it was a strong field and very satisfying to come out on top. I need to play more like this.' Els's win took him above Justin Rose and Padraig Harrington to the top of the European Tour order of merit. But if ever anything summed up the phoney nature of this race, it is that he will not be at the final event, the Volvo Masters, trying to win it. 'It's that time of year to get the wheelbarrow out,' said Els, with commendable honesty about his decision to take an appearance money cheque to appear on the Asian Tour instead. Surely the European Tour will take this as a cue to alter the order of merit before it is devalued further. At present all the money gathered in American majors and world championship events taking place in America counts as European winnings. How much more this prize would mean if it did what it said on the tin — a European Tour order of merit fought out by players competing largely on the European Tour. As for the last action to be played in Britain this season, yesterday's final was like so many in this edition — another one-sided affair. Els went ahead when Cabrera bogeyed the first hole of the day and stayed in front for the rest of the match. There were one or two key moments, most notably the third after lunch, when Els hacked his way up the hole and still emerged with a win. Three up at lunch, that extended the lead to four and while the doughty Cabrera halved the deficit going into the back nine, another Els birdie at the 10th proved decisive. Cabrera made mistakes thereafter to leave Els a comfortable winner. never thought I would win this event seven times,' he said. 'Obviously the three majors I have won take priority but these victories fall just below them in terms of what I have achieved. Look at the names of the winners, from all around the world. That's what I covet about this trophy, its international flavour.'

On to year two of the masterplan, then, and Els revealed he is already thinking about the Masters next April. Game on, as they say.