Els triumph built on fierce spirit and fluid grace

It was only when Ernie Els spoke that the words revealed the bitter edge of disappointment. The interview was short and to the point and was ended abruptly, the anger suddenly apparent. Els had just suffered bogeys at two of the last three holes at Royal Lytham to lose the 1996 Open to Tom Lehman.

A couple of unfortunates in the locker-room felt the lash of his tongue, but an apology was swiftly forthcoming for this South African is the most kind-hearted of men. The incident was pertinent once Els started talking in happier circumstances on Sunday evening at Muirfield having just won the 131st Open Championship and spoke of his long-held dream to hold aloft the silver claret jug.

Els has always referred questions about his supposed placid temperament to his caddie, Ricci Roberts, who has suffered many an ear-bashing. Roberts was at Els's side when he emerged as one of the game's leading talents in the early 1990s. They were together when Els won the US Open in 1994 and 1997. Like most unions, it was dissolved briefly, but last year they came to their senses and the team was re-established.

Often a golfer's swing fits his personality. With Els, the "Big Easy", it seemed a perfect match. That slow, smooth, graceful arc that produced such effortless power fitted the image of a laid-back man content with a barbecue on the beach and a beer as much as at the top table of sporting achievement.

When Els finished runner-up for the second time in the Open at St Andrews two years ago, it provokes a different emotion. An eight-shot deficit conceded to Tiger Woods followed a month after he had finished second to Woods at the US Open at Pebble Beach – by a monumental 15 strokes. The frustration was bubbling up as Els, the man anointed by Curtis Strange as the "next god of golf" at the 1994 US Open, was forced to bow before another altar. At the climax of one tournament in Hawaii, Woods and Els traded eagles and birdies before Woods won at the second extra hole.

No wonder Els said what he did in his pre-championship press conference last Monday. "You can beat the field but it doesn't mean you're going to beat Tiger," Els said. "If it wasn't for one guy, I think Mickelson would have had two or three majors by now, David [Duval] would have probably won a couple of Masters titles and who knows, I could have won four or five majors. This guy is a totally different talent than the world has ever seen. In a way I'm kind of glad I'm playing at this time and in another way I'm unhappy about it."

At Lytham last year, when Els was third behind Duval, the South African was accosted on the putting green by Jos Vantisphout, the sports psychologist whose talent for reconstructing a player's ego has brought many successes. It was not the first time Els had been approached by the Belgian, but this time there was no rebuff. If nothing else, Els was intrigued after Vantisphout had helped Retief Goosen, his friend and compatriot, to win the US Open at Southern Hills.

"It wasn't a hard decision to work with him," Els said. "I figured I needed to do something else to get better. I've always swung the club pretty well, but I just needed a little bit of help from somebody outside my friends or family. I needed another outlet, another perspective. He has been a big help. He's been very positive and told me things that sometimes I didn't want to hear, but things I really needed to know. He's definitely been a positive influence."

An eight at the par-five 13th in the final round of the Masters was not a good start to a season in which Els put ever more emphasis on the majors. Els, like Greg Norman, has all the attributes to win at Augusta but has yet to get his hands on a Green Jacket. The claret jug also appeared to be slipping through his hands when he took a double-bogey on the 16th hole to fall one behind.

"I was thinking is this the way you want to be remembered, for screwing up in an Open Championship. It was not one of my finer moments. Somehow I pulled myself together, but I was under a lot of pressure. The rest of the way every shot was crucial. I have still got a bit of fight in me when it counts, but it would have been a hard loss if I hadn't won."

A birdie at the 17th and then six pars, three at the 18th, finally secured victory after five play-off holes. "I have dreamed of this for a long time," Els said after matching Gary Player as a Muirfield Open champion. He spoke warmly of the Open as the "true Open Championship of the world". With homes in Johannesburg, Fancourt in George on the Cape coast, at Wentworth, from where he can enjoy the British sporting summer, Orlando and Paradise Island in the Bahamas, the 32-year-old Els, who with his wife, Liezl, returned to London on Sunday night to celebrate with his young daughter is a man of the world in many senses.

"Ernie has been one of the best golfers in the world for a long time," said Peter Dawson, secretary of the Royal and Ancient. "I'm delighted for him. He is a very likeable man indeed. There is no side with Ernie. What you see is what you get. I enjoy his company immensely. He has always been a great supporter of golf over here and of links golf. He will be a fine ambassador as our Open champion."

Els had arrived at Muirfield on the Sunday evening prior to the Open almost a week to the minute before his coronation. What he had in mind, after a series of tournaments in which his form had been nothing special, was an evening of liquid relaxation prior to the long week ahead. First though, he wanted to see the grand scene outside the clubhouse looking down the 18th hole. "If this doesn't inspire you," he told a passer-by, "nothing will."