GOLF: There's an old argument that says statistics don't lie, and another survey which tells us that 80 per cent of people don't believe them anyway.
GOLF:Yet, if you want to know who the hottest golfer in the world is, bar none, then Ernie Els's position at third in the rankings - behind Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson - would indicate that the doubters are right, and that we're not getting the whole story.
Although there were times in the final round of the Genuity Championship at Doral in Florida on Sunday when it looked as if Els would be the victim - yet again - of a final day Woods charge, the South African held out for his first US Tour win in over 18 months. But that bare statistic doesn't show the true picture either, as it constituted his second win of the season, adding this latest title to the Heineken Classic which he won on the European Tour (in Melbourne) last month.
For a player who has finished runner-up to Woods more times (six) than anyone else in the game, Els's recent performances suggest a turnaround in fortunes. The transformation goes back to a sudden-death win that Els and South African partner Retief Goosen posted over Woods and David Duval and two other teams at the World Cup in Japan last November.
Since then, Els has contended in every tournament he has played. So far this season - which has him at third in the European Tour moneylist and eighth in the US moneylist - he has finished tied-13th (South African Open), ninth (SA PGA), fourth (Johnnie Walker Classic) and first (Heineken Classic), while Sunday's success gave him his first win of the season in the US in his second start. Previously, he was a second round loser (at the 19th) to Tom Lehman in the Accenture World Matchplay.
The win in Doral - where he had two shots to spare over Woods, having started the final round with an eight-stroke cushion - has given Els the incentive to chase Woods in pursuit of the world number one title.
Els has previously attained the world number one position (for one week in 1997) but, although he has jumped two places over Duval and Sergio Garcia to claim third in the latest rankings, he still has considerable ground to make up on Woods to assume top spot. In fact, Els would have to continue playing as he is for a further two years to have any chance of catching Woods.
Yet, it is a measure of the new fire in his belly that Els has put over-hauling Woods as one of his goals. Much of this new philosophy can be attributed to Belgian sports psychologist Jos Vanstiphout, with whom Els started working last year.
While Els appears as laid-back as ever, he has also taken his physical workouts much more seriously. There was a time in his career when fitness was not an integral part of his regime, something that can be traced back to his two years in the military, which was a mandatory rite of passage for young men in South Africa.
His job in the air force - making sure exam papers got to where they were supposed to be going - was not a tough one, which left him plenty of time to play golf with the generals and compete on the air force golf team. But during boot camp, which lasted three months, Els paid his dues under the control of overly enthusiastic training officers .
"No one without four legs should ever have to run that much," he has said. The experience convinced him for years that exercise need not play a part in the routine of a professional on tour, where practice and technique, he thought, held supreme.
But Els now believes that he would have won at least a couple more majors - the British Open and the US PGA in 1995 stand out as prime examples - if he had been fitter and, he believes, his current form is tied in with new levels of fitness.
Els undertook the journey to Dubai immediately after his win in Florida. The South African competes in the Dubai Desert Classic - "I haven't played in this tournament for four years, but it is one of my favourite places," he insisted - where he will be seeking to win on a third different continent in little over a month. He has arrived in Dubai with the distinction of winning more prize money worldwide this year - almost $2 million - than anyone else.
Before the tournament, Els will compete in a big-money foursomes challenge match today with five other players: Padraig Harrington, Darren Clarke, Colin Montgomerie, Thomas Bjorn and Mark O'Meara. Harrington and Clarke have been paired together for the format while Els partners O'Meara and Bjorn teams up with Montgomerie.
Harrington and Clarke are part of a quintet of Irish players competing in Dubai. Also playing there are Des Smyth, Eamonn Darcy and Ronan Rafferty, each of whom is making his seasonal debut. Elsewhere, a quartet of Irish players - James Loughnane, Stephen Browne, Peter Lawrie and Paddy Gribben - are playing in the Zambian Open on the European Challenge Tour.
Meanwhile, Paul McGinley has opted to play in the Honda Classic which is the first tournament in a three-week stint on the US Tour for the Dubliner, who also plays in the Bay Hill Invitational next week - when Tiger Woods defends his title - and the following week's Players' Championship, where Harrington and Clarke will also be in action.
Richie Coughlan, who was forced to pull out of the Tuscon Open two weeks ago because of a cracked rib, hopes to play in the Honda Classic, where he is third alternate.
