Theodore Ernest "Ernie" Els (born October 17, 1969) is a South African golfer who has been one of the top professional players in the world since the mid-1990s. He is known as "The Big Easy," not only for his imposing physical stature (he stands about 6-foot-3), but also for his fluid, seemingly effortless golf swing.
Early life
Els was born in Johannesburg, South Africa. Growing up in South Africa, he played rugby, cricket, tennis, and, starting at age 8, golf. He was a skilled junior tennis player and won the Eastern Transvaal Junior Championships at age 13. But by age 14 he decided to focus only on golf.
Els first achieved prominence in 1984, when he won the Junior World Golf Championship in the Boys 13-14 category. (The Boys 9-10 category that year was won by Tiger Woods.)
Professional career
Els turned professional at the end of 1989, and won his first professional tournament in 1991 on the Southern Africa Tour (today the Sunshine Tour).
Among his numerous victories since are three major championships: Els won the US Open in 1994 and 1997, and the British Open in 2002.
Other highlights in Ernie's career include topping the 2003 and 2004 European Tour Order of Merit (money list), and winning the World Match Play Championship a record six times. He has held the number one spot in the Official World Golf Rankings and is consistently ranked in the top five. In 2003 he was voted 37th on the SABC3's Great South Africans.
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 Ernie 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. Els missed several months of the 2005 season due to injury, but won the second event on his return, the Dunhill Championship.
When not playing, Els 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.
Results in major championships
| Tournament | 1989 | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Masters | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | T8 | CUT | T12 | T17 | T16 | T27 |
| U.S. Open | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | T7 | 1 | CUT | T5 | 1 | T49 | CUT |
| British Open | CUT | DNP | DNP | T5 | T6 | T24 | T11 | T2 | T10 | T29 | T24 |
| PGA Championship | DNP | DNP | DNP | CUT | CUT | T25 | T3 | T61 | T53 | T21 | CUT |
| Tournament | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Masters | 2 | T6 | T5 | T6 | 2 | 47 | T27 |
| U.S. Open | T2 | T66 | T24 | T5 | T9 | T15 | |
| British Open | T2 | T3 | 1 | T18 | 2 | T34 | |
| PGA Championship | T34 | T13 | T34 | T5 | T4 | DNP |
DNP = did not play
CUT = missed the half way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place.
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10.
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PGA TOUR career summary
| Year | Majors | Other wins | PGA TOUR wins | Earnings ($) | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 684,440 | 19 |
| 1995 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 842,590 | 14 |
| 1996 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 904,944 | 14 |
| 1997 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1,243,008 | 9 |
| 1998 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 763,783 | 36 |
| 1999 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1,710,756 | 15 |
| 2000 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3,469,405 | 3 |
| 2001 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2,336,456 | 15 |
| 2002 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3,291,895 | 5 |
| 2003 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3,371,257 | 9 |
| 2004 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 5,787,225 | 2 |
| 2005 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1,627,184 | 47* |
* Didn't play after July due to injury.
These figures are from the PGA Tour's official site. As Els divides his time roughly equally between the PGA Tour and the European Tour, his ranking on the PGA Tour money list understates his standing within the global game. From the mid 1990s through 2005, he has rarely been out of the top five in the Official World Golf Rankings.
PGA Tour wins
- 1994 (1) U.S. Open
- 1995 (1) GTE Byron Nelson Golf Classic
- 1996 (1) Buick Classic
- 1997 (2) U.S. Open, Buick Classic
- 1998 (1) Bay Hill Invitational
- 1999 (1) Nissan Open
- 2000 (1) The International
- 2002 (2) Genuity Championship, The Open Championship
- 2003 (2) Mercedes Championships, Sony Open in Hawaii
- 2004 (3) Sony Open in Hawaii, Memorial Tournament, WGC-American Express Championship
Major championships are shown in bold.
European Tour wins
There is a summary of Els's European Tour career here.
- 1994 Dubai Desert Classic
- 1995 Lexington South African PGA
- 1997 Johnnie Walker Classic
- 1998 South African Open
- 1999 Alfred Dunhill South African PGA
- 2000 Standard Life Loch Lomond
- 2002 Heineken Classic, Dubai Desert Classic, 131st Open Championship
- 2003 Heineken Classic, Johnnie Walker Classic, Barclays Scottish Open, Omega European Masters, HSBC World Matchplay Championship
- 2004 Heineken Classic, HSBC World Matchplay Championship
- 2005 Dubai Desert Classic, Qatar Masters, BMW Asian Open
- 2006 Dunhill Championship (2005 calendar year, 2006 European Tour season)
Els's British Open counts as a win on both the PGA Tour and the European Tour. His two U.S. Open's do not count as European Tour wins because the three U.S. based majors did not become part of the European Tour's official schedule until 1998.
Other wins
- 1989 South African Amateur Stroke Play Championship
- 1991 Amatola Sun Classic
- 1992 Protea Assurance South African Open, Lexington South African PGA Championship, South African Masters, Hollard Royal Swazi Sun Classic, First National Bank Players Championship, Goodyear Classic
- 1993 Dunlop Phoenix (Japan Golf Tour)
- 1994 Toyota World Match Play Championship
- 1995 Toyota World Match Play Championship, Bells Cup
- 1996 Toyota World Match Play Championship, Philips South African Open
- 1997 PGA Grand Slam of Golf
- 1999 Nedbank Million Dollar Challenge
- 2000 Nedbank Golf Challenge
- 2001 Vodacom Players Championship
- 2002 Nedbank Golf Challenge, Cisco World Match Play Championship
Most of the wins up to 1992 were Sunshine Tour events. Most of those from 1994 onwards are in unofficial events.
Teams
Alfred Dunhill Cup
1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997 (winners), 1998 (winners), 1999, 2000
World Cup
1992, 1993, 1996 (Individual and team winners), 1997, 2001 (winners)
Presidents Cup
1996, 1998 (Winners), 2000, 2003 (Draw)
Ernie Els Design Golf Courses
Mission Hills Golf Club, The Savannah Course - Shenzhen,
China
Whiskey Creek - Ijamsville, Maryland, USA
Oubaai, Garden Route, South Africa