Els piles up miles with a desert detour

In the early days, when players such as Greg Norman were setting the trend by buying private jets, they had to be wary of the "wet footprint".

That meant there was a point on a long journey where, if something went wrong, there would not be enough fuel to get back. Happily for those buying their own jets now, the footprint has dried up. Ernie Els, for instance, not only flew from Florida to London on his way to Dubai, he could have circled Heathrow and gone back without refuelling.

As it was, he was able to spend the night at his Wentworth home before continuing in his Gulfstream IV to the Dubai Desert Classic, which begins today. The South African has travelled 50,000 miles this year and, because the jet costs about $3,300 an hour to operate, it has cost him something like $425,000 (£270,000).

But for Els it has been money well spent. "I couldn't have done what I did, going by commercial airline," he said. "I don't think my wife would have liked that." In any case, Els is averaging over $500,000 a tournament this year.

He has elected to come to Dubai even though he knew Tiger Woods would not. The world No1, of course, is not only a higher-profile target, he is an American target, and it is understandable that he has decided that discretion is the greater part of, in his case, lucre.

"I think he feels from his standpoint - not just because he's a golfer but because he's such a highly visible figure in the world - that it would be better if he is staying in America," said Woods's neighbour Mark O'Meara, who is here.

It will cost Woods $2m in appearance money, part of which will assuredly have been pocketed by Els for coming to a country that is 867 miles from Baghdad. "I've taken advice," said Els, "but you know, if you watch too much television you probably won't come. It's a very serious situation but I feel safe and it's great."

A Woods versus Els stroke-play confrontation would have been something to savour. Els will be going for his sixth win in his past eight events; Woods, having taken three months off for knee surgery, has played wonderfully since.

"He's unbelievable," said Els. "He's incredible. Mike Weir [winner of two tournaments], Vijay Singh [one], myself, we do our thing and he comes out and wins two out of three. He's a great player, a great competitor. So it's going to be fun when we do get together."

That will be in the Bay Hill Invitational in Orlando in two weeks, but in the meantime Els will need to pay attention to this event, which has several players capable of beating him. Darren Clarke has made a good start to the season and Padraig Harrington, the world No10, is itching to impose himself again.

Jamie Elson, the Walker Cup player, makes his professional debut and the Korean-born Kevin Na, 19, could be worth more than a passing glance. At 16 he was ranked the best junior in America; last year he won the Volvo Asian Masters.