Els: Comeback Player of the Year?

I'd like to officially nominate Ernie Els for Comeback Player of the Year. Steve Stricker isn't allowed to come back for two consecutive seasons, so he is out of the running. But with a very nice and convincing with at the HSBC World Match Play Championship, Els has proven to the world that he is back in form and a force to be reckoned with next season.

The comeback trail has not been as rocky as it has been made to appear, though. Ernie Els has been playing well very quietly this season. In his first PGA Tour start of the year at Riviera, he finished T3. He has five Top 5 finishes in 16 PGA Tour starts this year. On the European Tour, he leads the Order of Merit thanks to a 1 million pound win at HSBC. He has 12 Top 10 finishes in his European Tour season of 18 events. (There is some crossover considering that the Open and PGA are considered Euro Tour events.) In his last seven European Tour starts, he has finished out of the Top 10 just once at the Bridgestone Invitational on US soil. Basically, the guy has been on fire lately - just without a win.

Do not be surprised if Ernie becomes a viable challenger to Tiger down the stretch on Sunday at Augusta next year. Els is back, hungry, and may be a lot closer to his three year goal of catching Woods than we may have thought.