Els wins Mercedes Championships

Associated Press

KAPALUA, Maui — Ernie Els got the PGA Tour off to a record-setting start today, and stated his case as a legitimate challenger to Tiger Woods.

The Big Easy shattered the tour's scoring record in relation to par, closing with a 6-under 67 to finish at 31 under and win the Mercedes Championships by eight strokes.

The previous record was 28 under, set by John Huston at the 1998 Hawaiian Open and by Mark Calcavecchia two years ago in the Phoenix Open. Els finished at 261, breaking by five shots the tournament record set four years ago by David Duval.

Woods is home in Florida recovering from knee surgery that will keep him off tour for at least the first five weeks, but his presence might not have mattered.

Els went wire-to-wire on the Plantation Course at Kapalua, overcoming a sluggish start on the front nine and pulling away from K.J. Choi with birdies on five of his last seven holes.

It was an important start of the season for the 33-year-old South African, who lost two good chances to win at Kapalua in the previous three years.

One of them was to Woods in a sensational duel that Woods won on the second playoff hole and set the tone for his record-setting season.

Els was playing for the first time since he won the unofficial Nedbank Challenge in Sun City, South Africa, by eight strokes over Colin Montgomerie.

His victim today was Rocco Mediate, who closed with a 73. Mediate also was the runner-up to Calcavecchia when he set the PGA Tour mark of 256 in the 2001 Phoenix Open.

Choi, who had a miserable round on the greens, had a 73 and also finished second at 23-under 269.