Bunkers prove no obstacle for Els

Some good players played pretty well in the Johnnie Walker Classic. Retief Goosen, fifth in the world rankings, was 17 under par, along with Robert Allenby, 16th in the rankings, and Justin Rose, who is 40th. But if winning is the name of the game, they might as well have not been there.

Goosen, who won the event on the same Lake Karrinyup course by eight shots last year, was this time 12 behind the winner, the seemingly inevitable Ernie Els.

The South African, with a final round of 66, his worst of the week, not only won £166,660, he did so with a 29-under-par total of 259, setting two new records. He beat the 19-year-old European tour record of 261, set by the Canadian Jerry Anderson at Crans-sur-Sierre, and he beat the Australian tour record of 264, set by Gary Player at Kooyonga in Adelaide in the Australian Open in 1964.

As he also holds the US Tour and world records of 31 under par, set in the Mercedes Championships in Hawaii in January, his domination seems complete. He has now won five of the six tournaments he has played in this year and in so doing is exactly 100 under par, perhaps the most stunning of all the statistics.

Els won by 10 from the Australians Stephen Leaney and Andre Stolz, with Rose, Allenby and Goosen among those jointly fourth.

But the nature of Els's win raised some disturbing questions for the game's authorities, the Royal & Ancient and the United States Golf Association. Els averaged 315 yards off the tee. On the US Tour he averages 320 yards and, as a large amount of that is carry, it means that bunkers set to penalise the drive are no longer a realistic obstacle to the South African, or to many of the current crop.

Quite the most revealing statistic on the US Tour this year is that already 178 players have hit a drive of over 300 yards. It is all getting a bit ridiculous. As the Irish course designer Pat Ruddy points out, if a player hits a drive of 300 yards it means that what is left of most par fours is a short-iron par three.

Most courses have 10 par fours and good players would expect to birdie a short par three, say, four times. The game is edging ever closer to pitch-and-putt status and so technology must be controlled.

But the manufacturers would, of course, have the authorities in court for restraint of trade faster than you could say R&A. It is a dilemma that will need to be addressed - carefully.

Els was not quite immaculate in his final round. He started leading by nine, which poses the problem of whether to protect your lead or play the game that gained it. The South African was tentative over the outward half but cut loose when nine ahead with nine to play. He had birdies at five of the holes of the homeward half, including the long 15th with what he described as his best shot of the tournament.

He bunkered his tee shot and it seemed certain he would lay up. But no: out came the three-iron and seconds later the ball was on the green. It was a stroke that deserved an eagle and not the birdie it achieved.

Next up, next week, is the Match Play and Tiger Woods.

"You guys talk a lot about Tiger," said Ernie yesterday, "but it's not me against Tiger, or Tiger against me, it's us against the golf course."