Els Drops Elkington For Second World Match Play Title

South African Ernie Els won his second straight World Match Play Championship Sunday, defeating U.S. PGA champion Steve Elkington 2 and 1 in their 36-hole final to win $270,000, Europe’s richest golf prize.

The match at Virginia Water, England, ended when Els made a birdie on the par-5 17th and Elkington - after a tap-in for his birdie - conceded the match.

Els held a two-hole lead after the first 18 with six birdies on the West Course at the Wentworth Club. He was up by three when he stumbled briefly losing 16 and 17 before recovering on the par-5 18th with an 8-foot birdie putt to end the slide and pull back ahead by two.

In Las Vegas, Jim Furyk, who last year let this tournament get away from him in the final round, came through with birdies on the 15th and 16th holes to win the Las Vegas Invitational by a shot over Billy Mayfair.

Furyk, a second-year pro with an unorthodox swing and sweet putter, captured his first PGA Tour victory with a 5-under-par 67. Kirk Triplett, formerly of Pullman, earned $36,000 after firing a final round 67 to finish tied for sixth.

Don Bies sank a short par putt on the final hole to win his first tournament since 1992, taking advantage of Lee Trevino’s 18thhole bogey to capture the $700,000 Senior Gold Rush in Rancho Murieta, Calif., by one stroke.

Annika Sorenstam, rallying from three strokes behind, forced a playoff with Laura Davies and then rolled in a 40-foot chip shot on the first extra hole to win the World Championship of Women’s Golf in Cheju Island, South Korea.