Ernie Els

Some things appear as if they'll go on forever, like the championship drought in Philadelphia professional team sports, the construction delays on I-95, and Tiger Woods sitting atop the World Golf Ranking. Entering tomorrow's opening round of the British Open at Royal Troon, Woods is No. 1 in the world for the 257th consecutive week, covering nearly five full years. The last time he ranked any lower was one U.S. president, two Pennsylvania governors and three Flyers head coaches ago. But the aura of invincibility that Woods has carried, along with his impeccable record, seems to be waning, and his hold on No. 1 is slipping.

Considering the view from the clubhouse of the Plantation Course and the deep blue Pacific beyond, it's hard to imagine that golf can get any better than the kickoff tournament of the season, the Mercedes Championships. But chances are, it will. Just when it seemed the PGA Tour could not possibly milk any more excitement and drama from Tiger Woods, he lost his No. 1 world ranking last year to a workaholic with a languid swing named Vijay Singh. This year, with Woods supposedly back and Singh vowing to take his game to the next level, the fireworks from those two alone should be enough to light up golf's night skies.

You know it's coming. You know exactly what's going to happen. You know it's only a matter of time. But as deliciously predictable as Tiger Woods has made the final rounds of major golf tournaments the last couple of years, that's exactly what makes watching him so much fun. Yesterday, David Duval carded a second-round 68 to go to 7 under par through 36 holes of the Tour Championship. He has a 1-shot lead over Woods and Chris Perry. But as always, it was Woods who left television viewers, fans lining the fairways - and even some of the other players - shaking their heads in amazement.

Steve Elkington fooled them all, all those who thought everyone not named Ernie Els was wasting his time playing in yesterday's final round of the PGA Championship. Elkington rallied from 6 strokes down at the start of the day and won the 77th PGA, shooting a 7-under-par 64 and then defeating Colin Montgomerie with a 20-foot birdie putt on the first playoff hole. At the start of this sunny day, the engraver could have begun inscribing the name of Els on the Wanamaker Trophy and not been faulted.

Justin Leonard made a few changes in his swing, but not in an effort to catch Tiger Woods. Leonard liked the results yesterday in the Mercedes Championships in Kapalua, Hawaii. Coming off a 46-hole tune-up in Australia, Leonard found his groove in the fierce trade winds and shot a 6-under-par 67 to take a one-stroke lead over Ernie Els. Woods, the defending champion, playing in his first tournament of the year after his record-breaking 2000 season, shot a 70 to finish three strokes off the lead.

Tiger Woods' AT&T National will be played at its Congressional Country Club home this week but will be played at Aronimink Golf Club in 2010 and 2011 as Congressional is shut down to prepare for the 2011 U.S. Open. 2009: Congressional, Bethesda, Md. Dates: Tomorrow through Sunday The course: Par 70, 7,255 yards About Congressional: It opened in 1924. Course architect is Devereux Emmet. It was redesigned by Robert Trent Jones Sr. in 1957, and again by Rees Jones in 1989.

Vijay Singh blew away the field yesterday at Pebble Beach to continue an amazing run that keeps moving him closer to his ultimate goal - replacing Tiger Woods at No. 1. Singh birdied his first three holes to bury co-leader Arron Oberholser, closing with a 3-under 69 for a three-shot victory in the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. It was Singh's 12th consecutive top 10 finish. Singh managed 25 birdies for the week on the bumpy greens. He hit the flag twice in the final round, and would have done it a third time, except his chip on No. 10 was so true it went in the cup. Singh finished at 16-under 262. Jeff Maggert was second.

The rest of the PGA Tour can rest easy. Ernie Els is taking this week off. The U.S. Open champion added a second straight wire-to-wire victory in the Buick Classic to his resume yesterday and is rightfully feeling as though he's the best player in the world. And he doesn't have to apologize to Tiger Woods. "Right now, at this time, I would think so, yes," said Els, a 27-year-old South African, whose victory pushed him ahead of Woods and atop the world rankings. "I never said that in my life before but right now after the last two weeks, I've got to think that, yes. "My record shows it. " What he did at Westchester Country Club, in Harrison, N.Y., in beating Jeff Maggert by two strokes with a record-tying 16-under-par 268 was a piece of history.

Still reeling from his final-round flameout in the PGA Championship last week, Ernie Els seemed determined to build a lead even he couldn't squander. But Greg Norman wouldn't let him get away, whittling Els's lead to three points with a dramatic eagle on the last hole. Els carded nine birdies, including four in a row, in a nearly flawless performance that carried him to the first-round lead yesterday in the International, at Castle Rock, Colo. Els scored 17 points under the modified Stableford scoring system used in this unusual event.

Ernie Els has ended the longest drought of his career by winning the CA Championship in Doral, Fla., in a duel with South African protege Charl Schwartzel. Els played the final 23 holes on Doral's Blue Monster without a bogey and closed with a 6-under 66 yesterday for a four-shot victory that was far closer than the margin suggests. He had a one-shot lead as he stood over a 25-foot par putt on the 14th hole and was relieved to see it fall on the final turn. Schwartzel fell apart after that, going bunker-to-bunker on the 15th for a bogey and missing short putts on the next two holes.

  AVONDALE, La. - Jason Dufner beat Ernie Els with a birdie on the second hole of a playoff in the Zurich Classic on Sunday to win for the first time in 164 starts on the PGA Tour. After entering the fourth round with a 2-shot lead, Dufner shot a 2-under 70 at TPC Louisiana. Els had a 67 to match Dufner at 19-under 269. After both players missed birdie putts within 8 feet on the par-5 18th, they went back to the 18th tee for the second extra hole, which Dufner won by hitting the green in 2 strokes and tapping home a short birdie putt after Els' birdie attempt from the fringe narrowly missed.

JASON DUFNER beat Ernie Els with a birdie on the second hole of a playoff Sunday in the Zurich Classic in Avondale, La., to win for the first time in 164 starts on the PGA Tour. Entering the fourth round with a two-shot lead, Dufner shot a 2-under 70 at TPC Louisiana, while Els had a 67 to match Dufner at 19-under 269. Both missed birdie putts within 8 feet on the par-5 18th in the first playoff, so they went back to the 18th tee for the second extra hole, which Dufner won by hitting the green in two strokes and tapping home a short birdie putt after Els' birdie attempt from the fringe narrowly missed.

HUNTER MAHAN doesn't dwell on bad shots anymore, and he says that's leading to more good ones. Mahan shot a 1-under 71 on Sunday to win the Houston Open in Humble, Texas, edging Carl Pettersson by one stroke and becoming the first two-time champion on the tour in 2012. The 29-year-old Mahan finished 16 under for the tournament and moved to No. 4 in the world ranking, the first time he's ever been the highest-ranked American. "That's a pretty surreal thing to think about," Mahan said.

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. - Rory McIlroy made quite a first impression in America, even when he lost. He made his pro debut on American soil in the Arizona desert at the 2009 Match Play Championship. As a 19-year-old, McIlroy advanced to the quarterfinals and threw everything he had at Geoff Ogilvy until losing on the 17th hole. Ogilvy, who went on to win his third World Golf Championship that week, recalls riding back to the clubhouse with his caddie, Allistair "Squirrel" Matheson, both of them realizing that the landscape was about to change.

Ernie Els and Retief Goosen enter the 2012 season without any assurances of playing in the Masters. But Sean O'Hair is among those who have qualified. Players can qualify by winning a PGA Tour event that offers the full FedEx Cup points, or by being in the top 50 of the world ranking published March 26. O'Hair, who lives in West Chester, won the RBC Canadian Open in July. Els, a three-time major champion, fell to No. 56 in the final ranking. Els has been eligible for the Masters every year since his debut in 1994.

For the third time, the U.S. Open will be held on the Blue Course at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Md. As usual, it will be the hardest test the top players on the planet will face this year. Even if they'll be playing it as a par 71 instead of the 70 that it was the last two times. The members, of course, play it as a 72, but if the U.S. Golf Association didn't change at least one par-5 into a 4 it wouldn't be able to identify the true champion. Or something like that. Anyway, in 1964 Ken Venturi finally won the major there that had eluded him for so long.

KOHLER, Wis. - So what are we to make of Tiger Woods' opening statement in the PGA Championship, following his week to forget at Firestone? Woods, who is still hanging on to the No. 1 ranking, started with a 1-under-par 71 yesterday at Whistling Straits, where he finished 24th 6 years ago. The four-time winner of this major birdied three of his first four holes, to send the TNT broadcast folks into a blather, but he didn't make another until...

FORMER FLYERS CENTER Dan Quinn is looking to score: at the betting window. Quinn, who retired from the NHL in 1996 after 14 seasons, is an avid golfer and part-time caddie for Ernie Els. This week, however, Quinn is playing in the American Century Championship in Lake Tahoe, Nev., while Els is competing in the British Open. Gambling is legal in Tahoe and Quinn placed a bet - at 50-1 odds - that he and Els would win their respective tournaments. Quinn, who has won the American Century four times, is listed at 4-1 to repeat the feat.

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. - Ten years ago, Tiger Woods came to this awesome meeting of land and sea and made history by doing his best impersonation of Secretariat in the 1973 Belmont. The longer the U.S. Open went on, the more insane Woods' lead became, until it was transformed into two distinct golf tournaments: One for him and another for the B Flight. A few things have transpired since he won by a record 15 strokes with a 12-under-par 272. He's added 11 more professional majors to the resume.