Ernie Els has won the Asprey Golfer of the Month Award for January following three victories and a second place finish in a remarkable start to 2003.
The 33 year old South African made a successful defence of the Heineken Classic at Royal Melbourne on The European Tour International Schedule after finishing runner-up in the Caltex Singapore Masters, presented by Carlsberg, Singapore 2003 and winning the Mercedes Championships and Sony Open in Hawaii on the US PGA Tour.
Els, who was nominated the 2002 Asprey Golfer of the Year by a panel from the Association of Golf Writers, Television and Radio, was the unanimous choice for the opening Award of 2003 which coincided with Asprey renewing their support of the Asprey Golfer of the Month Award with The European Tour through to at least the end of 2004.
In announcing the agreement, Edward Asprey, Director of Asprey London, the ultimate authentic British luxury lifestyle house, said: “It is particularly pleasing to me that the Asprey Golfer of the Month Awards have come to be regarded by the players as one of the most sought after accolades on The European Tour.
"When you look at the calibre of the golfers who have won Asprey Golfer of the Month Awards over the past three years, it is a list of the finest international golfers playing today and is a recognition of the standard of The European Tour which now stands shoulder to shoulder with any Tour in the world. We also thank the Association of Golf Writers in addition to the many representatives of Television and Radio for their support by serving on the panels.”
Els, the World Number Two, launched 2003 with the following performances:
1st Mercedes Championships 64 65 65 67 = 261 (-31)
1st Sony Open in Hawaii 66 65 66 67 = 264 (-16)
2nd Caltex Masters, Presented by Carlsberg, Singapore 2003 69 67 70 73 = 279 (-9)
1st Heineken Classic 70 72 66 65 = 273 (-15)
Following the unanimous decision to make Ernie Els the Asprey Golfer of the Month for January, Edward Asprey said: “There really could only be one winner. With two wins on the US Tour, second place at the Caltex Masters in Singapore, followed by victory in the Heineken Classic, Ernie has demonstrated that he is going to be the man to beat this year. I firmly believe that Ernie will be threatening Tiger Woods for the World Number One spot before the end of the year.”
Els was not, however, the only European Tour Member to enjoy an outstanding month. His South African compatriot Trevor Immelman had a superb four week spell in which he won the South African Airways Open and tied second in the dunhill championship on The European Tour International Schedule, and won the Dimension Data Pro-Am and finished runner-up in the South African Tour Championship on the Sunshine Tour in which he finished Number One in the Order of Merit.
England’’s Mark Foster won the dunhill championship on The European Tour International Schedule, and Lian-Wei Zhang became the first Chinese player to win on The European Tour when he captured the Caltex Singapore Masters, presented by Carlsberg, Singapore 2003.
Fiji’’s Vijay Singh won the Phoenix Open on the US PGA Tour and South Africa’’s Hennie Otto won the South African Tour Championship.
The Asprey Golfer of the Month Award is presented to a European Tour Member each month from January to November for his performance on The European Tour International Schedule and in world wide competition. At the end of the season the panel will select the Asprey Golfer of the Year.
