Ernie Els's Biography

Who is Ernie Els?

Ernie Els won the world under 14 title at San Diego, California and turned professional in 1989.

In 1992, in his early twenties, Els not only won his first tournament as a professional golfer but he matched the feat of fellow South African, Gary Player, by achieving a hat-trick of South African Open, PGA and Masters titles.

In 1994, Ernie Els won his first Major, the US Open Championship, after a three-way 18-hole play-off and a two-way two-hole sudden death play-off.

Ernie Els has been consistently ranked in the top five golfers in the world. 2004 was another good year for Els when he won the Volvo Order of Merit for a second successive season.

Normally very laid-back, Ernie Els was outspoken in May 2004 with his opposition to belly-putters.

"I think nerves and skill in putting are part of the game and you should take a tablet if you can't handle it," said Els.

Ernie Els missed out on most of 2005 having injured his knee on a sailing holiday.

In December 2006, Ernie Els won the South African Airways Open to maintain his record of winning at least one tournament a year since 1991. It was Els's 62nd win as a golf professional.

In March 2007, Ernie Els amicably left his deal with Acushnet and agreed an equipment deal with Callaway Golf.

In the summer of 2007, Els continued to get back to form and achieved a fourth place at the Open and a third at the USPGA.

In October 2007, Ernie Els won the World Match Play title for the seventh time.

The Ernie Els Foundation was formed in 1999 to provide support to disadvantaged children.

On 2 March 2008, Ernie Els won his first PGA tour title for three years, four months and 28 days when he beat Luke Donald by a stroke to take victory in the Honda Classic.

In September 2009, the BBC reported that Tiger Woods believed that Ernie Els could have benefited from a tougher rehabilitation programme after major knee surgery in 2005. At the time of Tiger's comments, Ernie Els was 20th in the rankings and had gone 41 tournaments without a win.

On 8 November 2009, Ernie Els lost out by a just a shot to Phil Mickelson and came second in the HSBC Champions tournament.

On 14 March 2010, Ernie Els won the WGC-CA Championship title. It was his first win since the 2008 Honda Classic.

On 20 June 2010, Els came third in the US Open.

In October 2010, Ernie Els won the 28th PGA Grand Slam of Golf title in Bermuda.

On 22 July 2012, Ernie Els won The Open, moving him from 40th to 15th in the world rankings.

In 2016, Ernie Els suffered a disaster when he started his opening round at the Masters at Augusta, carding a nine.