By Mark Garrod, PA Sport Golf Correspondent

The world of golf has been waiting for Ernie Els to become Open champion since the day nine years ago when he first put himself into the record books at the event.

Having already finished joint fifth at Muirfield in 1992 - on his first appearance as a professional - Els went to Sandwich in Kent and came sixth.

What was special about his performance, though, was he became the first player ever to score in the 60s in every round.

Here was confirmation the game - and the laid-back nature of his character - which had already made him a star and a hero in his home country was perfectly suited to the big stage.

Els had already done something not achieved since Gary Player in 1979 when he won the hat-trick of South African Open, Masters and PGA titles in 1992, but after Muirfield and Sandwich he knew he was ready to start climbing the highest mountains.

It therefore came as no surprise when, in the steaming heat of Oakmont in 1994, the name of Theodore Ernest Els - even his initials have a golfing link - was first put on a major trophy.

Only 24 at the time, Els beat Colin Montgomerie and Loren Roberts in a play-off for the US Open. With Tiger Woods only 18, many people expected 'The Big Easy', as he was by now dubbed, to quickly become the dominant figure for the rest of the decade at least.

It did not happen. Although he again pushed Montgomerie into second place at the 1997 US Open, that was it until his return to Muirfield this week.

Not that he disappeared from trace. Els was hardly off a leaderboard at the majors in 2000, but finishing second to Vijay Singh at the Masters, second to Woods at the US Open (15 strokes behind) and second again to Woods at the Open - this time eight shots back - was not exactly what he had in mind for his career.

More worringly was what happened in 2001. Els went through the entire US Tour season without picking up a single trophy and that had not happened since 1994.

To make matters worse perhaps, another South African had emerged to hold centre-stage. Retief Goosen was now US Open champion and Europe's number one. Els was the player who was not fulfilling his potential.

Goosen had praised Belgian sports psychologist Jos Vanstiphout for turning him from something of a pessimist to an optimist and a player able to handle adversity better. Winning the play-off at Southern Hills after missing a two-foot putt the previous evening was the perfect illustration.

Els saw the change in the man he had known since they were boys and it seemed to act as a spur to himself. Now 32, he knew he should be in his prime and he knew that at his best there was nobody better - other than Woods, of course. He called on Vanstiphout himself.

An important step in the revival came at the World Cup in Japan last November. Goosen and Els were representing South Africa, Woods and Duval were America's defending champions.

The event produced a four-way tie that also involved New Zealand's Michael Campbell and David Smail and Denmark's Thomas Bjorn and Soren Hansen - both of whom were to shine at Muirfield as well - but the winners were Goosen and Els.

It was the lift-off he was looking for. Els returned home to win the South African Players' Championship, then started this year with an impressive victory in the Heineken Classic in Australia and returned to the winners' enclosure in America soon afterwards.

There was to be another big disappointment at the Masters. Chasing Woods down the stretch Els collapsed to a triple-bogey eight on the 13th and, along with all the leading challengers, was criticised by greats like Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Player for not giving the world number one a harder run for his money.

Winning the Open might not silence all the critics - perhaps that will not be done until Woods himself comes off second best in a major duel between the two - but Els is Open champion and Woods isn't.

That will do nicely. The Big Easy is back.