Without question, 2002 was by far the greatest year in the golfing life of Ernie Els with six wins worldwide including the Open Golf Championship at Muirfield, and the 33 year old South African returns this week to where it all began, the Heineken Classic at Royal Melbourne Golf Club in Australia.
Twelve months ago Down Under, The Big Easy cruised to a wire-to-wire win, opening with a 64 to lead by two and extending his advantage by a shot each day over the last three rounds to eventually win by five shots from Peter Fowler, David Howell and Peter O'Malley.
Els, of course, has started 2003 in impressive fashion with his back-to-back wins on the US PGA Tour, in the Mercedes Championships and the Sony Open in Hawaii and just missed out on a hat-trick in Singapore last week.
Fittingly, as World Number Two and defending champion, Els will start favourite at Royal Melbourne but he will face a stiff challenge in the defence of his title from a high quality field. Major Champions Nick Faldo, Paul Lawrie and Greg Norman lead the way, the latter headlining the strong home challenge for the trophy, last won by an Australian in 1999 when Jarrod Moseley triumphed at The Vines Resort in Perth.
The move last year from The Vines Resort in Perth to Royal Melbourne, consistently ranked the number one course in Australia, coincided with Heineken's tenth year of sponsorship of the event.
It is a course with a rich history for, apart from hosting the Presidents Cup Match in 1998, when the International Team memorably beat the United States 20 ½ - 11 ½ , it has also hosted the Australian Open on no fewer than 16 occasions.
