Els saved from the Tiger

Ernie Els, the Big Easy, the Open champion, is in the finest form of his life; in fact he is in the kind of form rarely equalled in anyone's life. He has won four of his past five tournaments, slumping to a shocking second in the one he did not win, and in taking the Mercedes Championship in January he set a world record for 72 holes of 31 under par.

He is, naturally, the overwhelming favourite for the £1m Johnnie Walker Classic, which starts today here at Lake Karrinyup. But the path he has taken to achieve such dominance has been far from easy, for it involved a total overhaul of his mental processes.

The simple if remarkable fact is that by the end of 2000 Els had become frightened of Tiger Woods. That was the year the South African was runner-up in three majors, twice to Woods, and he became convinced that whatever he did, however well he played, he could not beat him. It seemed the Big Easy had become the Big Fret. He lost so much confidence in himself that he began to fear that he could beat no one, let alone Tiger.

After winning nothing of consequence in 2001 he realised he needed to do something drastic. And what he did was drastic. He went to see a shrink. Jos Vanstiphout is a sports psychologist who has done some remarkable things with players on the European tour, but none more so than in turning Els around.

"He had a big problem with Tiger," said Vanstiphout yes terday. "Everywhere he went it was 'Why can't you beat Tiger?' Every press conference was the same. Every journalist asked the same question, everyone he met, and he couldn't handle it."

The two men went to work. "We worked on ignoring the fact that Tiger existed," said Vanstiphout. "As there is nothing you can do about him anyway, don't bother about him. Concentrate on your own incredible game."

Simple enough stuff, but it took time to sink in. Then Els won the Open at Muirfield last year. "I told him: 'Enjoy. Have fun. But be aware that you ain't seen nuttin' yet. This is only the beginning.'"

And so it has proved. Els is an incredible 71 under for this year already, in only four tournaments. "Now," says Vanstiphout, "Ernie is normal. Before was not the real Els. Now there are no more buts. It's 'yes I can, yes I can, yes I can'. The way he is playing now he can beat anyone, yes, even Tiger."

This week Els won't have to, but to win he will have to get past the defending champion Retief Goosen, Sergio Garcia, Justin Rose, Thomas Bjorn and last week's winner of the ANZ Championship, Paul Casey.

Garcia seems certain to play though he skipped the pro-am yesterday with a hamstring twinge. He thinks he picked it up in a kick-about with Els, an opponent who he should know is not to be messed with.

· Annika Sorenstam, the world No1, has accepted an invitation to play against the men in the Colonial tournament on May 22, making her the first woman in 58 years to compete on the PGA tour.