Els - long overdue a Green Jacket (Getty Images)

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Ernie Els, the only one of golf's 'Big Four' without a Masters title, comes out top in a poll of the media at Augusta.

Of the 32 correspondents polled, Els received 10 votes to win the tournament, Tiger Woods five, and two others players yet to taste victory in the event - Sergio Garcia and Retief Goosen - finished joint third with four votes each.

World number one Vijay Singh earned three votes, defending champion Phil Mickelson and twice winner Jose Maria Olazabal two each and Canada's 2003 champion Mike Weir and young Australian Adam Scott one each.

Here are the results of the pre-tournament poll:

Lewine Mair (Daily Telegraph): 1 Vijay Singh, 2 Retief Goosen, 3 Luke Donald. Winning score: 278 (-10). Margin of victory: Two shots.

John Hopkins (The Times): 1 Vijay Singh, 2 Ernie Els, 3 Tiger Woods. Score: 278. Margin: 1.

Jamie Corrigan (The Independent): 1 Phil Mickelson, 2 Padraig Harrington, 3 Tiger Woods. Score: 273. Margin: 2.

Lawrence Donegan (The Guardian): 1 Ernie Els, 2 Tiger Woods, 3 Bo Van Pelt. Score: 279. Margin: 3.

Derek Lawrenson (Daily Mail): 1 Sergio Garcia, 2 Phil Mickelson, 3 Vijay Singh. Score: 279. Margin: 2.

Mark Reason (Sunday Telegraph): 1 Ernie Els, 2 Jose Maria Olazabal, 3 Phil Mickelson. Score: 277. Margin: 1.

Bill Elliott (The Observer): 1 Sergio Garcia, 2 Chris DiMarco, 3 David Toms. Score: 279. Margin: 1.

Alan Campbell (Sunday Herald, Scotland): 1 Mike Weir, 2 Adam Scott, 3 Ernie Els. Score: 285. Margin: 1.

Iain Carter: 1 Retief Goosen, 2 Phil Mickelson, 3 Chris Riley. Score: 279. Margin: 2.

Neil McLeman (Daily Mirror): 1 Ernie Els, 2 Phil Mickelson, 3 Miguel Angel Jimenez. Score: 280. Margin: 1.

David Facey (The Sun): 1 Ernie Els, 2 Jose Maria Olazaball, 3 Chris DiMarco. Score: 281. Margin: play-off.

David McCarthy (Daily Record): 1 Ernie Els, 2 Luke Donald, 3 Vijay Singh. Score: 280. Margin: 1.

David Smith (London Evening Standard): 1 Tiger Woods, 2 Vijay Singh, 3 Ernie Els. Score: 278. Margin: 1.

Karl McGinty (Irish Independent): 1 Retief Goosen, 2 Padraig Harrington, 3 Vijay Singh. Score: 277. Margin: 2.

Bernie McGuire (Irish Star): 1 Adam Scott, 2 Chris DiMarco, 3 Tiger Woods. Score: 275. Margin: 2.

Doug Ferguson (Associated Press): 1 Sergio Garcia, 2 Adam Scott, 3 Tiger Woods. Score: 281. Margin: 1.

Jim McCabe (Boston Globe): 1 Jose Maria Olazabal, 2 David Toms, 3 Ernie Els. Score: 280. Margin: 2.

Steve Elling (Orlando Sentinel): 1 Retief Goosen, 2 Phil Mickelson, 3 Zach Johnson. Score: 278. Margin: 1.

Glenn Sheeley (Atlanta Journal-Constitution): 1 Tiger Woods, 2 Ernie Els, 3 Sergio Garcia. Score: 276. Margin: 2.

Mark Cannizaro (New York Post): 1 Ernie Els, 2 Tiger Woods, 3 Phil Mickelson. Score: 279. Margin: 1.

Bernie Pramperg (News Ltd, Australia): 1 Retief Goosen, 2 Vijay Singh, 3 Craig Parry. Score: 279. Margin: 1.

Shaun Powell (Newsday, New York): 1 Sergio Garcia, 2 Retief Goosen, 3 Adam Scott. Score: 273. Margin: 3.

George Sweda (Plain Dealer, Cleveland): 1 Tiger Woods, 2 Ernie Els, 3 Phil Mickelson. Score: 276. Margin: 2.

Vartan Kupelian (Detoit News): 1 Ernie Els, 2 David Toms, 3 Phil Mickelson. Score: 282. Margin: 2.

Cam Cole (National Post, Canada): 1 Ernie Els, 2 Phil Mickelson, 3 Retief Goosen. Score: 277. Margin: 1.

Damon Hack (New York Times): 1 Jose Maria Olazabal, 2 Ernie Els, 3 Chris DiMarco. Score: 280. Margin: 2.

Joe Logan (Philadephia Inquirer): 1 Ernie Els, 2 Phil Mickelson, 3 Tiger Woods. Score: 278. Margin: 1.

Andrew Both (Australian Associated Press): 1 Phil Mickelson, 2 Vijay Singh, 3 Ernie Els. Score: 281. Margin: 2.

Erskine McCullough (Agence France Presse): 1 Ernie Els, 2 Sergio Garcia, 3 Tiger Woods. Score: 280. Margin: 2.

Jaime Diaz (Golf Digest, USA): 1 Tiger Woods, 2 Ernie Els, 3 Vijay Singh. Score: 276. Margin: 1.

Nuria Pastor (La Vanguardia, Barcelona): 1 Tiger Woods, 2 Jose Maria Olazabal, 3 Phil Mickelson. Score: 278. Margin: 3.

Mark Garrod (Press Association): 1 Vijay Singh, 2 Tom Lehman, 3 Ernie Els. Score: 278. Margin: 2.