Ernie Els

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{{Infobox_golfer |name =Ernie Els |image =Els Ernie.jpg |date =October 17 |year =1969 |birth place =Johannesburg, South Africa |nationality =South African |residence =Wentworth, England |college =n/a |year professional =1989 |current tour =European Tour (joined 1992); PGA Tour (joined 1994) |professional wins=60 (PGA Tour 15; European Tour 20 (including 2 co-sanctioned with the PGA Tour); Others 27) |majorsandyearswon =U.S. Open (1994, 1997); The Open Championship (2002) |awardnameandyear =European Tour Order of Merit winner 2003, 2004; European Tour Golfer of the Year 1994, 2002, 2003; PGA Tour Rookie of the Year 1994; Sunshine Tour Order of Merit winner 1991/92, 1994/95 }}

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.

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Early life

Els was born in Johannesburg, South Africa. Growing up in South Africa, he played rugby, cricket, tennis, and, starting at age 9, 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.)

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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.

Image:Ernie smiling 800.jpg 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.

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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

YearMajorsOther winsPGA TOUR winsEarnings ($)Rank
1994101684,44019
1995011842,59014
1996011904,94414
19971121,243,0089
1998011763,78336
19990111,710,75615
20000113,469,4053
20010002,336,45615
20021123,291,8955
20030223,371,2579
20040335,787,2252
20050001,627,18447*

* 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.

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PGA Tour wins

Els's major championship victories are shown in bold.

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European Tour wins

There is a summary of Els's European Tour career here.

Wins

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.

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Other wins

Most of the wins up to 1992 were Sunshine Tour events. Most of those from 1994 onwards are in unofficial events.

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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)

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Ernie Els Design Golf Courses

Mission Hills Golf Club, The Savannah Course - Shenzhen, China
Whiskey Creek - Ijamsville, Maryland, USA
Oubaai, Garden Route, South Africa

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See also

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External links

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