Shanghai - Big South African Ernie Els was a happy man Sunday despite a costly last hole blunder costing him a memorable come-from-behind victory at the WGC-HSBC Champions.
Els was leading by a stroke when he went to the 18th but found the water after botching his approach to the green and finished with a bogey, spoiling an otherwise immaculate course record-matching round of 63.
The error allowed world number two Phil Mickelson to take the tournament by a shot with Els relegated to second.
While disappointed, he preferred to look at the positives after his best round of the season put him in contention for one of the few times this year.
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| 'my short game is back and I'm feeling good about my future again' |
"Today was a wonderful day. I mean, I really had a good time," he said.
"I knew the pressure was on, I knew the situation and for me this was great preparation for weeks to come."
Els has a proud record of claiming a title every year since turning professional in 1989, except for this year, and time is now running out.
He has won 64 tournaments in his long career but nothing since the Honda Classic and King Hassan II Trophy in early 2008, with his world ranking slumping to 24, its lowest in 15 years.
But just finishing second was an improvement for him.
"I think this was great work for me, working on the golf ball," he said.
"Made a lot of putts, my short game is back and I'm feeling good about my future again."
Despite being 40, Els still follows a punishing schedule with 31 tournaments spanning the globe on his agenda this year.
He said the tail end of the season was when players like himself started to tire, but a recent break in the Bahamas has worked wonders.
"Today, if you gave me 63 before I played I obviously would have taken that. I was thinking 64 but I can't complain," he said, crediting his resurgence on a new Callaway ball he is using.
"It's a different texture ball. It would have been unbelievable if I could have won with this ball," he said.
"It would have been great for Callaway and myself. I think my equipment is now spot on."
Asked what happened on the 18th, he said he had bad lie on his second shot and that was why he went in the water.
"I hit a beautiful tee shot but I was on a severe downslope. Because of the downhill, I basically kind of stood back on my swing and I hit the ground first, duffed it.
"But I can't think about that. For me to come back all of the way, to actually share the lead, was quite nice.
"I'm disappointed about that, but I'm going to really think about the 63 I shot." - Sapa-AFP
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