The Punter / Steven Rawlings / 13 December 2009 /

Steve looks back on a sad weekend, which saw old favourite Ernie completely flop...again...

I'd started the week reminiscing about my past glories at the last three Alfred Dunhill Championships, so it was perhaps inevitable that I did my proverbials at the event this week.

All three of my pre-event picks were frustrating. Garth Mulroy finally got going on day four and finished 12th, Richard Sterne alternated two lacklustre level par rounds with two superb six under par rounds to end up tied 4th, and Anders Hansen seemed to miss every other putt by a fraction and finished third. Close but no cigar.

My in-running exploits were just miserable. Far too much faith was put in Gregory Bourdy, who was very disappointing over the weekend, and after seeing how vulnerable he was in round three, I was very daft to stick with my Ernie Els bet, after being given the ideal chance to get out when he'd birdied the second hole in round four and was trading at just [3.0].

Els had been hopeless early on - on Saturday and with just five holes to play, he trailed the halfway leader, Pablo Martin, by a whopping eight shots and was trading at as big as [30.0], but then a double-bogey by Martin at the 14th and a run of four straight Ernie Els birdies, resulted in a quite remarkable turnaround. He ended the day trailing Martin by just two and was back trading at as low as [3.5], and the Spaniard had needed a massive stroke of luck for the margin to be that wide!

Playing the brilliant par five final hole, which yielded scores ranging from an eagle 3 to a gut-wrenching 11 over the weekend, the Spaniard's second shot overshot the island green, but instead of disappearing into the water it ran along, and then stopped, on the narrow pathway that the players use to vacate the course - from where he managed to save par.

It was the same sorry story again for Ernie in round four and this time there was to be no remarkable rally. Following a solitary birdie at the 2nd, he was absolutely shocking, dropping an unfathomable six shots and by the end he'd plummeted from 2nd right down to 17th.

It was a strange final day with nobody appearing to want the title -as soon as anyone got to within touching distance of Martin they messed up and although the Spaniard wasn't completely convincing, in the end, he was a worthy winner.

Whilst wrapping the result up, I have to give fellow columnist Paul Krishnamurty every credit for his piece on Monday - he really was spot on with his assessment of Ernie Els' chance this week, and after this weekend, I have absolutely no doubt myself either. As sad as it is, he's finished, never to be backed again. Well I say never... the only scenario now that Els could be considered a play is if he were 6 or 7 behind and trading at triple figure odds with a round to go - it really is the only conceivable way he can win now. Other than that, he simply has to be passed over.

At the Australian PGA Championship, Robert Allenby was the comfortable four shot winner. It was his second success in four years and his second success in two weeks, coming as it did, just a week after his play-off win at the Nedbank Challenge.

My pick, Michael Sim, had put himself into contention with a fantastic rally on Saturday but his one under par final round was never going to be enough.

But there was, at last, some good news... My pairing at the Shark Shootout, Jerry Kelly and Steve Stricker had led the field through the first two days, and although they went behind in the third and final round, they rallied well for unexpected win - turning a dismal week into a not so bad one. I hadn't gone mad but their win had almost covered my stakes for the week.

I'm relieved to have gotten out of jail but I can't help feeling a bit sad about poor ole Ernie. Like Paul, he's been a favourite of mine for many a year and such an ugly fall from grace hasn't been nice to witness.

Anyway, onwards and upwards, it's the South African Open next week and I'll preview the event on Tuesday night.

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