Fulke in swinging form to knock out Els

Swede Pierre Fulke pulled off the shock of the week to knock out top seed Ernie Els and reach the final of the Accenture world match play golf championship in Melbourne.  

Having beaten American Ryder Cup player Brad Faxon on the first extra hole before lunch, Fulke moved to within one victory of the million-dollar jackpot by defeating Els two and one.

American Steve Stricker, originally the 26th reserve for the £3million event and playing only because so many stars chose not to make the long trip so soon after Christmas, will be his opponent in the 36-hole final. He beat Japan's Toru Taniguchi by the same margin.

Even if he fails to succeed Darren Clarke as champion Fulke will still be £334,336 richer - and will be certain of a Ryder Cup debut in September, having already won the Volvo Masters last November.

Els had been the only one of the top 20 seeds to make the last eight, but has not been on top form all week and Fulke gleefully took advantage.

It was not scintillating stuff from the 29-year-old rising star of European golf either, but he said: "To beat Ernie is phenomenal whatever the scoring."

All square with seven to play, Els was favourite to win the long 12th, but three-putted after Fulke had conjured up a wonderful chip-and-run from the trees between two bunkers for a conceded birdie.

He then holed from 25 feet at the 15th to move two-up and halved the next two, Els failing with 12-foot putts at both.

"It's just a shame I didn't give Pierre a better game," said the world number two. "He did what he had to do and I kind of ran out of steam."