Els seeks win to challenge Woods and Duval

PERTH, Australia- Ernie Els aims to get back to winning ways at the Heineken Classic this week as he chases world number one Tiger Woods and the blazing David Duval in golf's world rankings.

Duval's final round 13-under-par 59 which clinched the Bob Hope Classic last Sunday stunned fellow players, particularly Els who starts his bid for the US$190,000 first prize at the Vines on Thursday.

"It's a good thing David isn't here this week or we'd all probably be taking a back seat," Els said of the leading money-winner on the U.S. PGA Tour.

"He's obviously in phenomenal form because he's won over a million dollars in just three events and he must be the best player in the world right now.

"Catching him and Tiger obviously has to be the target for us all."

Winning the first European Tour event of the year, the co-sanctioned South African PGA Championship, and finishing equal sixth in the South African Open last Sunday failed to establish Els in the world top three.

He held fourth place in the world rankings after his opening win of the season but the South African former world number one has since slipped back to fifth.

Victory in Perth could enable him to make up ground on Woods and Duval, top two in the world rankings ahead of their fellow Americans Mark O'Meara and Davis Love III.

But it is in the four majors and the three new world championship tournaments that Els needs to make his mark after a quiet spell last year.

"My back injury affected me badly last year and the last five months of the year weren't a great pleasure for me.

"The back's fine now though and I'm hoping for a better year not only in the majors, which were very disappointing for me, but on the U.S. Tour and the new world championships as well.

"I finished outside the top 30 in America so I've got a lot of ground to make up on Tiger and David this year."

Another young player hoping to make his mark this week is Denmark's Thomas Bjorn, the defending champion in Perth.

"The win here last year kick-started a great year for me," said Bjorn, who finished sixth in Europe in 1998 with two victories.

"This time last year the big talking-point was me being the only Ryder Cup player not in the Masters.

"Now I'm looking forward to playing Augusta this year for the first time and it was this tournament that put me on my way."

Germany's Bernhard Langer was on Wednesday reunited with his clubs, which had been mislaid on a flight, and should provide strong opposition for Els and Bjorn.

Britain's Ian Woosnam, past winner of this event and second to Bjorn last year, is another top challenger.

A mini-tornado caused 200,000 Australian dollars ($126,300) worth of damage to tents and equipment at the Vines on Monday but did not affect the course. ($1-1.584 Australian Dollar)