Theodore Ernest "Ernie" Els is a South African professional golfer, who has been one of the top professional players in the world since the mid-1990s. A former
World No. 1, he is known as
"The Big Easy" due to his imposing physical stature (he stands 1.91 metres) along with his fluid, seemingly effortless golf swing. Among his numerous victories are three
major championships: the
U.S. Open in 1994 at the
Oakmont Country Club and 1997 at the
Congressional Country Club, and
The Open Championship in 2002 at
Muirfield.
Other highlights in Els' career include topping the 2003 and 2004
European Tour Order of Merit (money list), and winning the
World Match Play Championship a record seven times. He is the leading career money winner on the European Tour, and was the first member of the tour to earn over 25 million Euros from European Tour events. He has held the number one spot in the
Official World Golf Rankings and holds the record for weeks ranked in the top ten with over 780.
Els was elected to the
World Golf Hall of Fame in 2010, on his first time on the ballot, and was inducted in May 2011.
In 1989 Els won the South African Amateur Stroke Play Championiship and turned professional the same year. Els won his first professional tournament in 1991 on the Southern Africa Tour (today the
Sunshine Tour). He won the
Sunshine Tour Order of Merit in the 1991/92 and 1994/95 seasons. In 1993 Els won his first tournament outside of South Africa at the Dunlop Phoenix in Japan. In 1994 Els won his first major championship at the
U.S. Open. Els was tied with
Colin Montgomerie and
Loren Roberts after 72 holes and they went to a 18 hole playoff the next day. The play-off consisted of 18 holes of golf but Els and Roberts were still tied by the end with Els eventually prevailing on the second hole of sudden death.
Els brought his game all around the world in his young career winning the
Dubai Desert Classic on the European Tour, and the
Toyota World Match Play Championship defeating once again Colin Montgomerie four-and-two. The following year, Els defended his World Match Play Championship, defeating Steve Elkington three-and-one, won the
Byron Nelson Classic in the United States then headed back home to South Africa and won twice more. In 1996 Els won his third straight World Match Play Championship over
Vijay Singh three-and-one. No player in history had ever managed three successive titles in the one-on-one tournament. Els finished the year with a win at his home tournament at the South African Open.
1997 was a career year for Els first winning his second U.S. Open (once again over Colin Montgomerie) this time at
Congressional Country Club, making him the first foreign player since
Alex Smith (1906, 1910) to win the U.S. Open twice. He defended his Buick Classic title and added the Johnnie Walker Classic to his list of victories. Els nearly won the World Match Play Championship for a fourth consecutive year, but lost to Vijay Singh in the final. 1998 and 1999 continued to be successful years for Els with 4 wins on both the PGA and European tours. 2000 started in historic fashion for Els being given a special honour by the Board of Directors of the
European Tour awarding him with honorary life membership of the European Tour because of his two U.S. Opens and three World Match Play titles. 2000 was the year of runner ups for Els; with three runner up finishes in the Majors (Masters, U.S. Open and The Open Championship) and seven second place finishes in tournaments worldwide. Els had a disappointing 2001 season, failing to win a US PGA tour event for the first time since 1994 although he ended the year with nine second place finishes.
2002 was arguably Els's best year which started with a win at the Heineken Classic at the
Royal Melbourne Golf Club. Then went to America and outplayed World Number one
Tiger Woods to lift the
Genuity Championship title. The premier moment of the season was surely his
The Open Championship triumph in very tough conditions at
Muirfield. Els overcame a four man playoff to take home the famed
Claret Jug for the first time, also quieting his critics about his mental toughness. The South African also took home his fourth World Match Play title, along with his third Nedbank Challenge in the last four years dominating a world class field winning by 8 shots.
2003 gave Els his first European Tour
Order of Merit. Although playing fewer events than his competitors Els won four times and had three runner ups. He also performed well in the United States with back to back victories at the Mercedes Championship and Sony Open and achieved top 20 spots in all four majors including a fifth place finish at the U.S Open and sixth place finishes at both the Masters and PGA Championship. To top off the season Els won the World Match Play title for a record tying fifth time. In 2003 he was voted 37th on the
SABC3's Great South Africans.
2004 was another successful year as Els won 6 times on both tours including big wins at Memorial,
WGC-American Express Championship and his sixth World Match Play Championship, a new record. His success did not stop there. Els showed amazing consistency in the Majors but lost to
Phil Mickelson in the
Masters when Mickelson birdied the 18th for the title, finished ninth in the U.S. Open after playing in the final group with friend and fellow countryman
Retief Goosen and surprisingly losing in a playoff in the Open to the unknown
Todd Hamilton. Els had a 14-foot (4.3 m) put for birdie on the final hole of regulation for the championship, but Els missed the putt and lost in the playoff. Els ended the major season with a fourth place finish in the PGA Championship, where a three putt on the 72nd hole would cost him a place in the playoff. In total Els had 16 top 10 finishes, a second European Order of Merit title in succession and a second place finish on the United States money list. 2004 was the start of the "Big Five Era" which is used in describing the era in golf where
Tiger Woods,
Vijay Singh, Ernie Els,
Retief Goosen, and
Phil Mickelson dominated the game of golf. The five switched up and down the top five positions in the
World Golf Ranking; most notably Vijay Singh's derailment of Tiger Woods as the best golfer in the world. The five stayed, for the most part, in the top five spots from 2004 until the start of 2007. Nine majors were won between them, many fighting against each other head to head.
Unlike most of his contemporaries, Els is known for his willingness to participate in tournaments all around the world (he regularly plays in European Tour-sanctioned events in Asia, Australasia, and his native country of South Africa). He says that his globe-trotting schedule is in recognition of the global nature of golf, but it has caused some friction with the U.S.
PGA Tour, an organization that would prefer Els to play more tournaments in the United States. In late 2004,
Tim Finchem, the director of the PGA Tour, wrote quite a firm letter to Els asking him to do so, but Els publicized and rejected this request. The PGA Tour's attitude caused considerable offense in the golfing world outside of North America.
In July 2005, Els injured his left knee while sailing with his family in the Mediterranean. Despite missing several months of the 2005 season due to the injury, Els won the second event on his return, the
Dunhill Championship.
At the start of the 2007 season Ernie Els laid out a three-year battle plan to challenge Tiger Woods as world number one. "I see 2007 as the start of a three-year plan where I totally re-dedicate myself to the game,"
Els told his official website.
When he missed the cut by two strokes at the 2007
Masters Tournament, Els ended tour-leading consecutive cut streaks on both the PGA Tour and the European Tour. On the PGA Tour, his streak began at the 2004
The Players Championship (46 events) and on the European Tour it began at the 2000
Johnnie Walker Classic (82 events).
Els has often been compared to
Greg Norman in the sense that both men’s careers could be looked back on and think what could have been. Although the two of them are multiple major championship winners they have both shared disappointment in majors. Their disappointments have ranged from nerves, bad luck and simply being outplayed. 1996 was the year where Norman collapsed in the
Masters and Els in the
PGA Championship. Els has finished runner-up in six majors and most notably for his runner-up finishes to
Tiger Woods. Els has finished runner-up to Woods more than any other golfer and has often been described as having the right game to finally be the golfer to beat Woods in a major.
On 2 March 2008, Els won the
Honda Classic contested at PGA National's Championship Course in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. Els shot a final round 67 in tough windy conditions, which was enough to give him the win by one stroke over
Luke Donald. The win marked the end of a three and a half year long stretch without a win on the PGA Tour for Els. The win was his 16th PGA Tour victory of his career.
Els is represented by
International Sports Management. When not playing, he has a golf course design business, a charitable foundation which supports golf among underprivileged youngsters in South Africa, and a highly-regarded
wine-making business. Els has written a popular golf instructional column in
Golf Digest magazine for several years.
On 8 April 2008, Els officially announced that he was switching swing coaches from
David Leadbetter (whom Els had worked with since 1990) to
Butch Harmon who has revamped the golf swings of many established pros (which started with Greg Norman). During Els 2008 Masters press conference Els said the change is in an effort to tighten his swing, shorten his swing, and get a fresh perspective.
On 8 November 2009, Els almost ended his year-long slump by shooting a course-tying record 9-under 63 in the final round of the
WGC-HSBC Champions to finish at 16-under par 272, a stroke back of
Phil Mickelson who finished with a 17-under 271 total including a final round of 3-under 69.
Els finally did break his winless streak by capturing the
WGC-CA Championship at Doral in 2010, winning by four strokes over fellow countryman
Charl Schwartzel.
It was Els' second WGC tournament title. The victory also saw Els overtake
Colin Montgomerie to become the career money leader on the European Tour. Els then won the
Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill two weeks later. It was his 18th PGA Tour victory, and his second in as many starts.
Ernie continued his 2010 success with a T3 at the
2010 U.S. Open at
Pebble Beach Golf Links. He got a 2nd place in 2000 which was also at Pebble Beach.
Els most recently tasted success at the
PGA Grand Slam of Golf in October 2010. After opening the 36 hole event with a round of 68 he fended off the challenge of
David Toms with a final day 69 to win the four man tournament by one stroke, capturing $600,000 in the process. In December 2010, Els won the
South African Open beating
Retief Goosen by one shot.
