Els Finds Winning Formula

The pressure to win made Ernie Els feel as if he were in a major. Given all he has been through this year, his victory in the American Express Championship sure felt like one.

Emotionally spent from a Grand Slam season of heartache, Els reasserted himself as a major force Sunday by outlasting Thomas Bjorn in the cold rain at Thomastown, Ireland. He closed with a three-under-par 69 for a one-shot victory and his first World Golf Championship.

Els lost the Masters when Phil Mickelson birdied the last hole. He played in the final group of the U.S. Open and shot 80. He lost the British Open in a four-hole playoff against unheralded Todd Hamilton. And a bogey on the final hole knocked him out of a playoff at the PGA Championship.

“I wanted to forget about the majors, the near-misses,” Els said. “I needed to get that out of my system and start over. Otherwise, I’m going to get left behind. I don’t want to do that. I want to win tournaments, and the only way you can do it is to move forward.”

Els finished at 18-under 270 and earned $1.2 million to set the single-season earnings record on the European tour, topping $4 million. He moved past Tiger Woods to No. 2 in the world ranking, behind Vijay Singh.

Bjorn shot a 68 in the final round.

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Fred Funk birdied the last hole to finish off a final-round six-under 66 and win the Southern Farm Bureau Classic at Madison, Miss., by a stroke over Ryan Palmer.

Funk tied a course record at Annandale Golf Club with a 22-under 266 for his sixth career victory and the first since winning at Madison in 1998.

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Wayne Levi won his second Champions Tour event, shooting a four-under 68 to finish at 16-under 200 for a two-stroke victory over Hale Irwin (64) in the Constellation Energy Classic at Hunt Valley, Md.