South Africa's Ernie Els has shattered the PGA Tour scoring record and in the process has won his first Mercedes Championship with an amazing 31-under-par 261 total.

Eight shots back and tied for second place on Sunday were Rocco Mediate, who fired a final-round 10-under 63, and South Korean K.J. Choi, who could only manage an even-par 73 when most players were scoring low.

Fiji's Vijay Singh and South Africa's Retief Goosen finished nine strokes behind Els in the winner's only event in a tie for fourth place.

In winning his 11th PGA Tour title, Els was never really pressed.

He began the day two shots ahead of Choi, and after coasting through the front nine with a one-under 35, had actually extended his lead by another shot.

"I think we both got caught up in the match play situation there," Els said of both his and Choi's lacklustre performances on the first nine holes.

"We just need to step it up, start playing our game and really go after the golf course again," Els said he told his caddie as they left the ninth green.

Choi made his only move on Els with back-to-back birdies on the 10th and 11th holes to move to within one shot.

Then Els birdied the 12th to extend his lead and gained another shot at the 13th with a par to Choi's bogey.

When Els birdied the 14th and Choi made another bogey, the margin was five strokes and the tournament all but won.

"I've had some good weeks in my career," Els said. "But obviously to shoot 31-under par, I obviously haven't done that -- nobody's done it."

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Indeed, his winning total was five shots better David Duval's previous record of 26-under in the 1999 Mercedes.

Els also broke a two-year-old record held by Joe Durant for the lowest score over the first 72 holes in a PGA tournament.

Durant was 29-under through four rounds of the five-round Bob Hope Chrysler Classic.

Els has now dismantled his second field in a row with eight-stroke victories.

Last month he won by the same margin in the Nedbank Challenge in Sun City, South Africa after shooting a 63 in the final round.

Playing with new equipment and a renewed vitality, Els methodically took apart a course and a field here that were both defenceless.

With drives that went over 350 yards or putts that fell from all angles, Els sent a message to the rest of the golfing world that at 33 years of age he is going to be a force in 2003.

"I felt in control of my golf swing; I was putting well," Els said of this week.

"When you feel those kind of things in your game, it makes you feel comfortable. You don't get overanxious."

Mediate was so shocked by his performance he didn't know he had finished at 10-under until his caddie told him after the round.

"For us to come out as a tour, as 36 guys that play out here, play this good of golf, that means we as a whole are getting a lot better," Mediate said of the week's play.

"Usually these scores are silly."

Mediate, wielding his new 39-inch putter, took only 28 putts to secure his runner-up finish and his lowest 72-hole score in his career.

"I feel like I'm close with it," Mediate said of his new putter.

"I have one week under my belt. It worked fine, except the first day."

The opposite of Mediate, Choi could not come close to duplicating his feat in the third round when he shot a course record 11-under 62.

"I didn't have my game today," Choi said. "That's what really created the gap there."

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