By Ken Brown BBC Sport golf commentator

Moments after Ernie Els had picked up the HSBC World Match Play trophy, my co-commentator Seve Ballesteros strolled over to have a word in his ear.

The gist of what he said was that Ernie could be better than Tiger Woods - all he had to do was believe.

Now some people may say that's just typical Seve, but it's undeniable that what we saw on Sunday was a golfer who can stand tall among the greats of this game.

The only other players who have won five World Match Play championships are our friendly Spaniard and Gary Player - that's some company.

Els has the ability and the talent to become the number one in the world Seve Ballesteros More reaction from Seve

Interestingly, Ernie is a completely different player to those two.

Where Seve and Gary were gladiators who went for the jugular, Ernie lopes along, smiling between shots and taking his time.

Of course, living on the Wentworth estate he knows the West course very well and that's obviously a great help, but the major advantage is his putting.

The ball can be five, six or seven feet from the pin, but when Ernie needs to get that ball in the hole to halve or win he doesn't miss - that accuracy is the mark of a champion.

And whatever your opinion on psychologists - and some of my BBC colleagues have a few - you cannot deny that Jos Vanstiphout, who is in effect Ernie's mental coach, has had a profound influence on his game.

You do have to feel a measure of sympathy for Thomas Bjorn Ken Brown

He's far more focused now, and perhaps more importantly, aware of just how good he is.

Ernie's technique is excellent, and his short game is up there with the best. And by changing his ball and driver at the start of the year he has added 10 yards onto his hitting, which is a lot at this level.

You do have to feel a measure of sympathy for Thomas Bjorn, who didn't play badly and, in the final, hit the shot of the tournament.

His hole-in-one on the 14th on Sunday afternoon showed the class of the man - he knew he had to make a move with Ernie so far in front and came up with the goods.

For a moment we thought something astonishing might be on the cards, but as ever Ernie closed the door. The South African was always in control.

I know from experience how hard it is when you're chasing a player who gives nothing away. Mentally it's tiring and sometimes you try and force the issue, which invariably lands you in a bunker.

But overall Thomas can be proud of the way he played. The standard of golf has been very high all week, and he just happened to come up against the very best.

As for Ernie, he has played his way into the record books and is one of the legends of this tournament.

Whether he can fulfil Seve's prophecy is another question, but what I would say is that when it comes to golf, Senor Ballesteros is rarely wrong, and you certainly do not argue with him.