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Ernie Els only has a few months left to make sure the year doesn't end without a victory, and the World Match Play Championship usually is the perfect place to get that done.

He is the only six-time winner, and part of him feels as though he is the defending champion because he missed last year recovering from knee surgery. Els lives in an estate lining the 16th fairway, and he was in charge of a recent redesign of the West course.

Then again, the Big Easy doesn't usually see the name "Tiger Woods" in the 16-man bracket.

And right now, that's enough to make anyone uneasy.

"He's an unbelievable talent," Els said Wednesday. "And now with his swing back on track, he's got all of the belief he wants in his game, and he's got a lot of ability there. So at the moment, he's on a pretty nice roll, and it's for us to step up and try to play better than him."

Woods starts his three-week tour of England and Ireland by making his first appearance since 1998 in the HSBC World Match Play Championship, which offers the richest prize in golf among official events — about $1.87 million to the winner.

Next week is the Ryder Cup in Ireland, followed by the American Express Championship outside London.

More daunting is what lies behind Woods — a winning streak that began at the British Open in July and reached five straight tournaments two weeks ago in the Deutsche Bank Championship, where he shot 63 and rallied to beat nemesis Vijay Singh.

Woods plays the first round against former PGA champion Shaun Micheel. If he wins that 36-hole match, he would play the winner of Luke Donald-Tim Clark. And that could lead him to a showdown with Els, who first plays Angel Cabrera.

Els has plenty of scar tissue from his encounters with Woods, most of them losses. The South African has been runner-up to Woods seven times, more than any other player.

But at Wentworth? In 36-hole match play?

"If I play him this week, I've got as good a chance as ever to beat him because I've got a good record here," Els said.

Woods is No. 1 in the world ranking, but the No. 2 seed at Wentworth. The top seed goes to defending champion Michael Campbell, who opened the tournament against Simon Khan of England.

In other first-round matches, David Howell played Colin Montgomerie; Retief Goosen played Paul Casey; Adam Scott played Mike Weir; and Jim Furyk played Robert Karlsson.

A record crowd is expected at Wentworth, a pristine estate southwest of London, primarily because of Woods. Title sponsor HSBC commissioned a professor to do an economic report on Woods' presence in England and Ireland this month, and the professor said he could boost the core golf economy by up to $320 million.

Expectations are high inside the ropes, too.

"I would say he's favored to win every event he enters, this being no different," Montgomerie said. "But match play is a strange game. It's a different game, and over 36 holes, the cream usually rises to the top. I would expect for Tiger to be in the final, wouldn't you?"

The only other time Woods has played this tournament was in 1998, when good friend Mark O'Meara beat him in the final match. That was at the tail end of his least productive year in golf when Woods was in the middle of overhauling his swing.

Now, he appears to have everything in good shape for another big run.

Woods has been wearing out his opponents with all facets of his game — his iron play at the British Open, his putting at the PGA Championship, his scrambling at Firestone, his driving at the Deutsche Bank Championship and a little bit of everything at the Buick Open.

Campbell isn't the least bit daunted. He already has shown his mettle against Woods when he ignored a charge at Pinehurst No. 2 last year to win the U.S. Open.

The Kiwi told about a lesson from his father from when Campbell played rugby as a kid.

"I was quite a slender builder and my opponents were bigger than me," Campbell said. "He said to me, 'The bigger they are, the harder they fall.' So I'm going to take the attitude this week if I do come across him that he's a bigger steak right now.

"Put it this way," he added. "There's no way that there will be 15 guys lying down and saying, 'Tiger, you take the title.' I'm sure the other guys who do play Tiger will definitely try their best. It makes us more motivated to beat him."

The 16-man field includes seven players who will play in the Ryder Cup next week — Woods and Jim Furyk from the U.S. team, Montgomerie, Howell, Luke Donald, Paul Casey and Robert Karlsson.

The two weeks are nothing alike — the Ryder Cup matches feature partners and no prize money — but Montgomerie said it would be worth paying attention to how those seven players fare.

"We'd like as many Europeans to do as well as possible for next week," he said. "If anyone has the opportunity to beat Tiger and manages to beat him, that would give the whole team a lift."