Tour News round-up: Due to the nature of the profession, the term globetrotter must be affixed to any touring golfer; and, in the case of Ernie Els, it is more applicable than most.
But the South African's penchant for criss-crossing time zones to play on different tours means that any quest to top the US Tour's money list is made more difficult, and Els recognises he may have to change his travelling habits if he is ever to achieve that goal.
Although his successful defence of the Sony Open in Hawaii moved him to second place in these early days of the US Tour (behind Australian Stuart Appleby), Els will now switch his attention towards seeking a repeat of his European Tour money title in the coming weeks.
He plays in the Johnnie Walker Classic in Thailand next week and then moves on to the Heineken Classic in Australia the following week.
As things stand, Els is rated "60-40" against playing in the Accenture World Matchplay in La Costa at the end of February - "It's not a life or death situation for me or the Tour . . . we'll see," he said of any intention to play in that championship, and a decision won't be made until he spends some time home in South Africa - and, realistically, it could be mid-March before he resumes playing in the US.
By which time, he will have also competed in the Dubai Desert Classic (where Tiger Woods is also committed to play) in the first week of March.
All of which may be good for the European Tour (and, indeed, the Asian and Australian circuits), but he is effectively giving a head start to many others in the US Tour money race.
"The way I'm playing, the way I'm travelling, I can't really compete for the (US) money title," conceded Els. "I've got to change some stuff, and I am going to do that next year. If I keep on winning, I'll have a chance (this year), but it is not really on the forefront of my agenda.
"I've got to try and win tournaments when I play and I've got to try and win major championships, but, to be honest with you, I don't think I can realistically win the money title . . . next year, I'll change that schedule. I'll play a lot more on the West Coast (of America) and maybe I won't have as much pressure on myself.
"But I need to get off to a start, because by the time I rejoin the tour, the guys will have made $2 million, $3 million already. So I need to play well when I'm playing."
Els, who sank a 30-foot birdie putt to defeat Harrison Frazer at the third play-off hole to capture the $864,000 top prize in Hawaii, claimed his 13th career win on the US Tour (and his 46th worldwide), but remained in third place behind Woods and Vijay Singh in the official world rankings.
Incidentally, Padraig Harrington - still in his customary winter break - remained in 10th, while Darren Clarke - who missed the cut in Hawaii - is 12th.
However, Els's main goal for the season is to re-enter the winner's enclosure in a major. Although he had seven wins last year, none came in a major.
"I'm pretty close to doing really good things," he insisted. "I just want to stay on course and I know I can get better .. . . there's still things I can improve on and I've just got to keep on grinding away."
Els posted a final-round five-under-par 65, bringing his consecutive rounds in the 60s streak at the Sony Open to 16. During that span he is 56-under-par, and has now finished in the top-five in his last four appearances at the event (fifth in 2000, fourth in 2001, first in 2003, first in 2004).
But his play-off win denied American Frazer a maiden win in seven seasons on the tour. Els became the first player since Corey Pavin in 1987 to successfully defend the Sony Open title.
Incidentally, Singh secured his 10th consecutive top-10 finish in a streak dating back to the NEC Invitational at Akron in August.
All in all, it was a good week for South African golfers, with Trevor Immelman - "He's going to be a force to be reckoned with," insisted Els - retaining his South African Open title and moving to the top of the European Tour moneylist, ahead of Harrington.
This week, the European Tour remains in South Africa for the Dunhill Championship at Houghton Golf Club, where the Irish challengers feature Paul McGinley, Peter Lawrie, Damien McGrane, Ciaran McMonagle, Damien McGrane - making his seasonal debut - and recently naturalised Irishman Mark McNulty.
ORDER OR MERIT
Irish positions: 2, P Harrington €94,205; 9, D Clarke €27,248; 41, P McGinley €6,481; 76, P Lawrie €2,946.
