South Africa`s Ernie Els is riding high and happy with his form ahead of the tournament which propelled him onto the world stage 15 years ago.

Els, 39, said on his website he was feeling upbeat about this week`s Dunlop Phoenix tournament after narrowly missing out on back-to-back victories with a second place in Singapore.

`I haven`t played in this event for 10 years but it has a special place in my memory bank,` said Els, who has competed four times in the event, winning it in his 1993 debut here for his first victory outside South Africa. He finished 33rd in 1998.

Els described the 1993 tournament as `a real breakthrough win`.

`As a young guy that performance gave me a ton of confidence and the feeling that I could really start to achieve some things in this game. And it really opened some doors for me too.`

`It`ll be good to come back and play here again,` said Els, who followed up the Dunlop victory with his first major championship at the US Open in 1994.

At the Singapore Open on Sunday, Els missed a 15ft putt on the final hole to finish second with Ireland`s Padraig Harrington, one stroke behind Jeev Milkha Singh of India.

`Any time you have a chance to win and don`t it is disappointing,` said Els, who won the King Hassan II Trophy in Morocco two weeks ago for only his second victory of the season after taking the US PGA Honda Classic title in March.

`But on the other hand I left Singapore on Monday morning feeling generally quite upbeat about my game,` the `Big Easy` added. `I flew straight to Miyazaki Airport in Japan to get ready to tee it up this week in the Dunlop Phoenix tournament.`

Els faces defending champion and English Ryder Cup star Ian Poulter at the two million dollar event, one of Japan`s richest tournaments, at the 7,010-yard, par-71 Phoenix Country Club course.

The field features 72 Japan Tour regulars, such as money leader Shingo Katayama and teenage sensation Ryo Ishikawa, and 11 invited foreign players including Sweden`s Henrik Stenson and British Masters winner Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano of Spain.

Poulter, who finished runner-up to Harrington at the British Open in July, is back from a stroke of bad luck.

The 32-year-old pulled out of the Singapore Open because his driver had been stolen in Shanghai and a replacement did not arrive in time.

`It is an honour to be back in Miyazaki as a defending champion,` Poulter, winless for a year, said through the tournament organisers.

Poulter, who launched a fashion house last year and is famous for his colourful attire, said he was `happy that everyone loved my fashion along with Ishikawa`.

Ishikawa, a 17-year-old student, who last year became the youngest winner on a top-tier golf tour in the world, scored his long overdue second tournament victory when he won another Japan Tour event on November 2.