WENTWORTH (England) Oct 19: Ernie Els’ relentless march towards his fourth World Matchplay Championship title continued unabated here when he overpowered Vijay Singh 3 and 2 in their semi-final showdown here on Saturday.

He will meet Sergio Garcia who beat Michael Campbell 2 and 1 when he chipped in for an eagle on the par five 17th.

It was Singh who stopped Els winning a fourth championship in a row when he beat him in the 1997 final but there was going to be no repeat on Saturday as Els moved into a three hole lead after the opening three holes.

At one stage, Els extended his lead to five but Singh, a former Masters and USPGA champion, managed to pull back to only two down.

However nothing was going to stop Els, who on Friday had crushed Colin Montgomerie 6 and 5 with the greatest round of golf seen on the Burma Road course.

The Open champion blitzed Montgomerie with a stunning 12-under 60.

No such golf was needed against Singh who has been complaining all week of a nagging shoulder injury.

He was not helped by the freezing conditions that greeted the players on Saturday morning, forcing organisers to delay the start by 30 minutes.

Although the sun came out the temperature barely got above freezing throughout the day and Singh could only manage a lack-lustre one-over 73 in the morning session.

Els carded a three-under 69 to justify a three hole lead by lunch.

Singh began the afternoon session with a bogey to go four behind and from then on it was only a question of when Els, who lives on the course and has played more than 300 rounds here, would let the Fijian get back to the heat of the locker room.

The end came on the 16th when a par by Els was enough to run out the winner.

For Singh, he was happy he had lasted as long as he had.

For Garcia, it was a battling performance. Campbell, who has already seen off Nick Faldo and defending champion Ian Woosnam, quickly went two up against the Spaniard after only two.

But the 22-year-old Spaniard, who was four down at one stage against Padraig Harrington in his quarter-final clash, continued to plug away and as they neared the half-way stage had brought the score back to level.

He was helped when Campbell smashed his drive into the trees at the par five 17th, ending up with a bogey while Garcia had the simplest of birdies.

Garcia had a chance to go in to lunch one up but his eagle putt slid agonisingly by and they started the afternoon 18 all square.

But after 30 holes Garcia finally got in front and remained there until his dramatic chip in on 17 to clinch the win.

“I hit a great chip. It was a great way to finish,” he beamed.

Campbell and Singh walk away 85,000 pounds richer.

For Garcia and Els the battle is on for the 250,000 pounds winner cheque. The runner-up collects 120,000 pounds.

Results (prefix number denotes seeding):

(Semifinals) 4-Sergio Garcia (Spain) beat 8-Michael Campbell (New Zealand) 2 & 1; 2-Ernie Els (South Africa) beat 6-Vijay Singh (Fiji) 3 & 2