South African Ernie Els fired a 6-under 66 on Saturday to win the season-opening Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai in Ka’upulehu-Kona, Hawaii.
Els finished at 18-under 198 through his three rounds at Hualalai Golf Course, edging Miguel Angel Jimenez of Spain and Germans Alex Cejka and Bernhard Langer by two strokes. Jimenez shared low-round honors with three others thanks to a 64 on Saturday, while Cejka carded a 68 and Langer tallied a 66.
After a bogey at the par-4 third, Els heated up with birdies at three of the next four holes. He had to settle for another bogey at No. 8, but it was smooth sailing from there, as the 55-year-old went 5 under the rest of the way.
“I got off to a bit of a slow start, but got it going and then bogeyed No. 8 again,” Els said. “Alex played wonderful, Miguel made a big run. There were other players making runs, so we had to keep pace with basically the field and that’s what we did. …
“Lucky for me, I kept making big putts, big putts on 15 and 16. Then obviously when Bernhard missed his birdie on 18, my putt was a little easier, so I rolled that one. But what a battle.”
Els credited the early-season success to a relaxing offseason.
“I just enjoyed myself, you know? We went down to South Africa, family and friends down there, summer holidays for us. Spent six weeks down in South Africa at Herolds Bay and played a lot of social golf with my friends,” Els said. “I only see them once a year, most of them, so played a lot of golf, drank a lot of beer, ate a lot of good food, came back very healthy.”
Jimenez came roaring out of the gate, collecting six birdies on the front nine before finishing with nine in all. His only blemish was a bogey at the par-3 eighth.
Jerry Kelly (65 on Saturday) and New Zealand’s Steven Alker (65) ended up tied for fifth at 15-under 201.
Ken Tanigawa (66) ended up four shots off the lead and secured sole possession of seventh place, just ahead of a four-way tie for eighth.
–Field Level Media
