CIFIC LISADES, Calif. Ernie Els showed he's not quite ready to be pushed off the world golfing stage by Tiger Woods and David Duval.

Els, a native of South Africa who is a two-time U.S. Open champion, said all week that he thought Woods and Duval were playing the best in the world. Then he showed he's still among golf's elite by beating them and everyone else in a strong Nissan Open field today.

"When you have players of that calibre in the field and you come out on top, it's very satisfying. I will remember this as one of my good ones,'' said Els, who shot his second consecutive 3-under-par 68 to finish two strokes ahead of Woods, Davis Love III and Ted Tryba.

"You don't beat all those guys very often,'' Els added.

Woods and Love shot 70, and Tryba, who had a Riviera Country Club record 61 a day earlier, shot 72.

Els won despite a shaky finish, as swirling breezes off the Pacific kicked up in the afternoon to make for a ragged conclusion at Riviera.

He finished at 14-under-par 270 and bogeyed two of his last three holes, including No. 18. But he got the victory when Woods and Tryba, needing birdies on 18 to force a playoff, both bogeyed.

Els gave Woods and Tryba a chance to catch him when his 4-foot par putt slid past the cup on the 18th green. He then watched anxiously as the final group -- Woods, Tryba and Love -- finished.

Love parred the last hole, but Woods hit a terrible approach shot well right off the green after Tryba's second finished in the rough left of the green, leaving a difficult chip shot.

"I have given Tiger chances before and he's taken them,'' Els said. "That was a lot to expect from him (a birdie) because that hole was playing really tough.''

Woods, who won a week earlier at San Diego with scores of 62 and 65 on the last two days, grimaced the moment he hit his stray second shot on 18, as he realised he had just ruined any realistic chance of catching Els. His ball bounced into a concession stand and rolled under a chair. He was given a free drop, but still had a very long pitch to the green and was forced to try his par putt from 25 feet away.

"I left the blade wide open and it caught the wind,'' Woods said of his errant approach, which came after a long tee shot positioned him in the right side of the fairway. "I had my chances for birdies and wasn't able to convert; you have to make those to win.''

Tryba left his third shot, a chip from the rough, short of the hole on the way to his closing bogey. But Tryba, who led last week at San Diego before shooting 74 the last two days, wasn't discouraged by finishing second.

"I showed myself that when I'm playing well, I can play with the best players in the world,'' he said.

Els began the day tied with Woods and Love, two shots behind Tryba.

There was no 59 this time from Duval, who had won two of his first four 1999 starts, including a PGA Tour record-closing round of 59 at the Bob Hope Chrylser Classic. But he did manage to stay close -- after parring the first nine holes today, he finally managed three birdies on the back against a bogey on 18 for a 69 that left him just three shots behind Els.

Nick Price, with a 68, finished tied with Duval for fifth.

Els, a 29-year-old South African who splits his time between Orlando, where he owns a home, and his native country, plays a lot overseas, and 19 PGA Tour appearances in 1997 were his most ever.

Still, the Nissan win assured him a six-year run of victories on the Tour. He won once each year from 1994 to 1998. He now has seven career PGA Tour victories, including two U.S. Open wins.

Els trimmed two shots off par on the front nine, then birdied Nos. 11, 12 and 13 to go to 16-under. He then bogeyed No. 16 before missing the short putt on the final hole.

Woods also finished second last year, when the tournament was moved to Valencia, Calif., while Riviera was being prepared for the U.S. Senior Open. Billy Mayfair, who beat Woods for the title last year by making a birdie putt on the first playoff hole, this time shot 74 to finish in a tie for 23rd at 5-under.

DIVOTS: Els, a three-time winner of the World Match Play Championship in England, is 2-0 in Presidents Cup singles matches and might be tough to beat in the Andersen Consulting Match Play Championship, a rich, new event at La Costa this week. The winner gets $1 million, almost double the $504,000 first prize in the Nissan. ... Fred Couples, a two-time winner of the tournament in the 1990s and a runner-up three other times, was never really in it this time. He shot 70 Sunday to finish at 3-under. ... Woods has a theory about scores going lower after the first two rounds, believing that pin placements are made easier for TV purposes. He said placements are tougher the first two days to weed out who's playing well and who's not. "They're a little more generous on Saturday,'' he said. "People like to see birdies. They want to see somebody shoot a low round.'' Woods shot his 62 on Saturday in San Diego, Duval his 59 on Sunday in the Bob Hope, and Tryba had his 61 at Riviera on Saturday. A PGA Tour official said, however, that pin placements are not made easier on the weekend, and Sunday's round seemed to bear that out.