[3] The following week, at the unofficial Nedbank Million Dollar Challenge, Els again had a chance to win; he was one behind leader Nick Faldo early on the back nine.

However, similar to the previous week, Els struggled on Sunday's back nine, recording a double-bogey on the 13th and a bogey on the next to end his chances.

American Brad Ott birdied five of the last eight holes to "squeeze" by and defeat South Africa's Richard Kaplan and England's Chris Davison by a shot.

[9] In early February, at the Telkom South African Masters, American Scott Dunlap defeated Zimbabwe's Mark McNulty at the first sudden death playoff hole.

At the penultimate event, the Phillips South African Open, he recorded a solo runner-up placing, finishing only behind Retief Goosen.