Zhang makes history as Els' quest wilts in heat

Lian-Wei Zhang became the first Chinese winner on the European Tour by ending Ernie Els' quest for a fourth straight victory in the Caltex Masters here at the Laguna National.

Els, the world No 2, led by one shot playing the final hole but ran up a bogey five and then saw his playing partner Zhang hole from five feet for a birdie to snatch the title and the £92,000 first prize.

Zhang hit a closing 70 for a 10-under total of 278, with Els a shot behind and Thailand's Prayad Marksaeng another stroke back in third. England's Simon Khan and the Netherlands' Maarten Lafeber shared fourth on seven under.

"I felt I played OK but I didn't putt well at all," said Els, who fired a final round 73. "Apart from yesterday I struggled with the pace of the greens. And the heat eventually got to me a little bit. I felt a little bit tired towards the end, it was tough. I have to take my hat off to Zhang, he stuck in well and didn't make any mistakes."

It is not the first time Zhang, ranked 141st in the world at the start of the week, has taken some famous scalps.

The 37-year-old memorably defeated Colin Montgomerie in a Dunhill Cup match at St Andrews in 1998, and beat the former Open champion Nick Price on the fifth hole of a play-off to retain his Macau Open title in October last year.

"I am delighted," said Zhang. "This is a milestone in my career. Ernie Els is a great player and it was a pleasure playing with him."

Els had won his last three events – the Nedbank Challenge last year and the first two US Tour events in Hawaii in 2003. The Open champion began the day two shots clear of the field and briefly stretched his advantage to three strokes with a birdie on the second.

Zhang did not give up the chase and hit birdies at the next two holes to reduce the gap to one shot. Both players then fired birdies at the seventh before Els three-putted the eighth for a bogey and fell back into a share of the lead at 11 under.

By now it had developed into a two-horse race and both Zhang and Els made a hash of the par-five 11th, finding water with their second shots and each making six.

Els re-established his lead with a superb iron shot to 10 feet to set up a birdie on the 12th, but again three-putted on the 14th to allow Zhang back on level terms.

Zhang appeared to have blown his chance when he recorded a bogey at the treacherous par-three 17th, but Els hit a wayward drive on the last that bounced off a cart path, then a tree, before settling in the rough. From there he could only come up short of the green while Zhang fired a superb approach over the flag to five feet. Els hit a fine chip to a similar distance but hit his putt too firmly. Zhang made no such mistake.

SINGAPORE MASTERS Leading final scores (GB or Irl unless stated): 278 Zhang Lian Wei (China) 68 71 69 70. 279 E Els (SA) 69 67 70 73. 280 P Marksaeng (Thai) 73 67 69 71. 281 S Khan 66 73 72 70, M Lafeber (Neth) 70 72 69 70. 283 R Gibson (Can) 68 76 71 68; A Marshall 67 73 73 70; P G Nyman (Swe) 68 76 67 72.