Date: March 03, 2008
Author: Sportal

Els breaks drought

Ernie Els has broken his PGA Tour drought by holding off a chasing pack littered with Australians. The South African, who last won on the Tour in 2004, fired a three-under-par 67 to win the Honda Classic at PGA National. Englishman Luke Donald (71) was a shot behind Els, with Australian Nathan Green outright third after firing a closing round of 70. Green was one shot ahead of compatriots Robert Allenby (70) and Matt Jones (73). Mathew Goggin grabbed a share of seventh courtesy of 69 on the last day to close the tournament one-under-par. Despite the host of Australians in contention, it was Els&apos day. The South African bogeyed the 17th but Donald, Mark Calcavecchia and Jones could not catch him over the final holes as Els claimed his first PGA Tour win since the American Express Championship in 2004. Donald, Calcavecchia and Jones, started the day tied for the lead at six-under but all three recorded over-par rounds. Donald shot a one-over 71, while Calcavecchia recorded a three-over 73. “To win over here, it&aposs been really my goal,” Els said. “So it&aposs a great feeling. I really played pretty well today.” Fourth Round of the Honda Classic, Palm Beach Gardens, FL -6 Ernie Els 67 70 70 67 -5 Luke Donald 64 74 66 71 -4 Nathan Green (Australia) 71 70 68 67 -3 Robert Allenby 69 68 70 70, Matt Jones (Australia) 66 67 71 73, Mark Calcavecchia 70 67 67 73 -2 Mathew Goggin (Australia) 71 70 68 69, John Mallinger 68 67 73 70, Alex Cejka 69 71 68 70 Michael Letzig 70 69 68 71, Brian Davis 65 67 73 73 -1 Brett Quigley 67 70 70 72, Ben Crane 69 66 71 73, Jose Coceres 68 69 68 74 E Justin Rose 72 70 71 67 Shane Bertsch 70 69 71 70, John Merrick 72 69 68 71 Dudley Hart 68 66 72 74, Cliff Kresge 70 71 66 73 also: +2 Peter Lonard (Australia) 71 71 69 72, John Senden (Australia) 77 67 69 72, Richard Green (Australia) 72 71 71 72 +5 Tim Wilkinson (New Zealand) 67 74 67 75