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Witness: Ernie Els Runner-up

EVENT: Mercedes Championships, Kapalua Golf Club, Lahaina, Hawaii
DATE: Jan. 9

"At the first event of 2000, Tiger beat me when he holed this
huge putt, 40, maybe 45 feet. I thought then that Tiger was in
for a spectacular year, but winning so many times, by such wide
margins? That I never imagined. Who could?

"They always say about match play, 'Expect your opponent to make
every shot.' I should have been expecting Tiger to make that
45-footer, but I wasn't. He willed in that putt. How you
actually will something in, that's a mystery. It starts with
talent, but from there it goes straight to the mind.

"Tiger sees things differently. He sees the line--not just of
his putts, on all his shots--more clearly. I'd like to know how
he does it. He might not know himself. I know this: The next
time he's standing over a 45-footer, I'll be expecting him to
make it. And I'm going to be ready to make mine right on top of
his."

B/W PHOTO: PHOTOGRAPH BY LOUISE GUBB/SABA

19
Strokes under par by Woods in this year's British Open, the most
ever in a major. Steve Elkington and Colin Montgomerie, who were
17 under in the '95 PGA, previously held the record.