By Ferd Lewis
Advertiser Columnist

Well, maybe not everybody is so eager to see Tiger Woods play in the Sony Open in Hawai'i after all.

Organizers of the tournament have kept the light on for six years now, waiting, hoping, and, indeed, probably praying that the planet's leading golfer would eventually grace Waialae Country Country Club with his aura. Fans have poured over the participation list since he joined the PGA Tour in 1996 to see if each succeeding season would be the year.

But there is at least one person who says he would just as soon see Woods remain ensconced in his plush Florida compound the third week of January.

Ernie Els.

"Why should he come? He can stay in Florida," Els said in a tongue-in-cheek statement of decided self-interest.

For while the Tiger is away, Els will play and the field will pay. He is having his way with Waialae and the Sony Open fields, winning the event for the second consecutive year in a playoff after depositing a 22-foot birdie putt on the third hole of sudden death.

Last year, Els caught and beat third-round leader Aaron Baddeley, who was looking for his first PGA Tour win, in two extra holes and this time it was Harrison Frazar, who sought his inaugural PGA victory in 161 starts, that the South African overtook.

Clearly a pattern has emerged for "Early" Els, who is beginning to annually turn this first full-field event of the PGA Tour season into his private ATM.

The results are impressive as is the golf that has gotten him there: two appearances, two checks totaling $1,674,000 in the past two years. Overall, his bank account has been enriched $2.1 million in four career starts.

Not since Corey Pavin won back-to-back titles in the 1986 and '87 Hawaiian Opens, Sony's predecessor in Kahala, has anybody dominated the course like this. And nobody has won the same tournament in consecutive years since Tiger doubled up on the WGC-American Express Championship.

How well does Els have this gig down? He wore a copy of the same lime sponsor's shirt he had on for last year's playoff win — "the only green shirt I've got," he said — for the occasion. Again, there was a can of his favorite lager from home, Windhoek, on ice, waiting. And, no wind, either.

And to think Els had been looking right past what has since become his favorite pot of gold, bypassing Hawai'i until 2000.

But once he played in the Mercedes that year, he figured as long as he was out here why not, as that other Ernie — Banks — used to say, play two.

"Years ago, when I stayed at home I never used to go to California for the Mercedes," Els said. "I used to watch this tournament on television and I thought it had a nice look.

"This (tournament) used to be a hidden little gem. A lot of good players never used to come here (and) now a lot of players come here. It's a great tournament."

Especially if he can continue to keep you-know-who away.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8044.