It was only because the £3million event is not stroke play that he was allowed onto the course at 7.30am, two hours before the tournament began.

"I checked with the head referee and he said it was okay," said the South African, who plays Japan's Hidemichi Tanaka for a place in the last 16.

"I'm quite surprised I didn't see anybody else out there. It helped me get a feel for the course and see how the ball reacted."

It also helped compensate for the fact that Els, firm favourite for the million-dollar first prize after the decision of Tiger Woods and five more of the world's top seven not to play, was the last of the 64-strong field to arrive.

He landed in Australia only on Tuesday evening and it was purely his 2pm tee-off time against Kraft which enabled him to see and play as much of the Metropolitan course as he did.

"It's hard to get players away from home at this time of year, especially from South Africa because it's our summer holidays. They had to drag me away."

Having agreed to play two months ago, Els admitted that as more and more players pulled out the tournament became less and less attractive to him.

Kraft, 104th in the world, qualified only last week when the number of withdrawals reached 40 and he was only one behind until Els put his foot on the accelerator with birdies at the 14th and 15th.

"I really had to work hard and it was a lot closer than the score," added the world number two. "Greg was tough and I'm pleased to have finished the game off in the way I did."