Ernie Els

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Ernie Els
Ernie Els 2009
Personnel
Nation: South AfricaSouth Africa South Africa
Nickname: Big Easy
Career data
Professional since: 1989
Current tour: PGA TOUR , European Tour
Tournament wins: 66
Major wins : 4 (1994, 1997, 2002, 2012)
Awards: Payne Stewart Award (2015), World Golf Hall of Fame (2010),
Honorary Life Membership of The European Tour (1999),
Winner of the European Tour Order of Merit (2003/04),
European Tour Golfer of the Year 1994, 2002, 2003,
PGA Tour Rookie of the Year 1994

Theodore Ernest (Ernie) Els (born October 17, 1969 in Johannesburg ) is a South African professional golfer and has been one of the world's best since the mid- 1990s . He plays on both the European Tour and the US PGA TOUR and is a four-time major winner.

Adolescent years

Els played rugby , cricket , tennis and started playing golf when he was eight. He had his first success in tennis when he won the Eastern Transvaal Junior Championships at the age of 13 . At the age of 14, Ernie had reached a handicap of 0 and decided to concentrate fully on golf. In 1984 he won the Junior World Golf Championship in the 13-14 year old category.

Career

At the end of 1989 Els became a professional golfer and won his first tournament in 1991 on the South African Sunshine Tour (golf) . This was followed by a worldwide winning streak that brought him more than sixty successes and, with the exception of 2009, did not give Els a single winless year.

Els played for South Africa from 1992 to 2000 continuously in the Dunhill Cup (after 2000 this competition was no longer held), which his team won twice. He played five times for his country in the World Cup , two of them victorious, and eight times he has been called up to the international team at the Presidents Cup .

Ernie Els defended himself successfully in 2005 against the attempt of the US PGA Tour that he should play more tournaments in the United States and thus on the PGA Tour . The attempt was to increase the minimum number required to obtain the PGA tour card. Ernie Els stated that, on the one hand, he lives in Europe and, on the other hand, sees himself as an international player who plays on the European Tour (and thus also plays in Australia, Africa and Asia) and the US PGA Tour.

A torn ligament in his left knee, which he suffered during a sailing vacation in July 2005, ended his golf season prematurely and cost Els his third consecutive European Tour Order of Merit win . This injury also had an impact on his 2006 tournament results.

The game

His golf swing is considered one of the most elegant in specialist circles and in the specialist press. The swing rhythm is comparatively slow, which means that the up and down speeds are relatively slow. In addition to his coordinative talent, Els has anatomical advantages: On the one hand, he is very strong with a height of more than 1.90 meters. On the other hand, it is very agile, which allows it to rotate widely. Strength and flexibility make his swing look effortless and easy. That earned him the nickname The Big Easy . His swing and the swing of his professional colleague and compatriot Retief Goosen were almost the same at a young age and are still very similar today.

Greatest successes and records

His greatest successes include major victories at the US Open in 1994 and 1997 and at the Open Championship in 2002 and 2012.

His seven wins at the World Match Play Championship at the Wentworth Club , which are regarded as the unofficial world championship in match play , represent a record. Likewise, the achievement is that he achieve six successes each three times (1994-96 and 2002-04) has never been achieved by any other golfer.

The victory by thirteen shots at the BMW Asian Open 2005 in China is also a record.

When he won the Tournament of Champions 2003 with 31 strokes under par, he became the first player to finish a 72-hole tournament with 30 strokes or better.

Personal

It is not only called The Big Easy because of its characteristic, light golf swing , but also because it hardly shows any emotions during the game. It always looks like he's not interested in what his competitors are doing. At the Masters 2004 he lost one stroke to Phil Mickelson . While Mickelson was punching his victory sputt for a birdie , Els savored an apple and chewed lightly .

Els has its own foundation ( The Ernie Els and Fancourt Foundation , founded in 1999) that supports underprivileged children in South Africa and promotes talent for golf.

For a long time Els had his main residence in Wentworth , west of London , directly on the 16th hole of the Wentworth Club's west course . In 2008 he announced that he would be relocating to southern Florida. In addition to the optimal training opportunities in winter, better care options for his son Ben made the difference.

In September 2010, his induction into the World Golf Hall of Fame was announced.

Business

Ernie Els is very successful in golf course design and has designed golf courses in China, the USA, Dubai and South Africa, and in 2006 carried out the redesign of the West Course in the Wentworth Club - one of the most famous English golf courses and seat of the European Tour .

Under the label Ernie Els Wines , the South African runs a winery in his home country that now produces red and white wines.

PGA Tour victories

Major championships are in bold .

European Tour Wins (29)

Major Championship in bold .

Other tournament victories

Participation in team competitions

  • Alfred Dunhill Cup (for South Africa) (9): 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997 (winner), 1998 (winner), 1999, 2000
  • World Cup (for South Africa) (5): 1992, 1993, 1996 (individual ranking and team victory), 1997, 2001 (winner)
  • Presidents Cup (International Team) (8): 1996, 1998 (winner), 2000, 2003 (draw), 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013

Results in major championships

competition 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003
The Masters DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP T8 CUT T12 T17 T16 T27 2 T6 T5 T6
US Open DNP DNP DNP DNP T7 1 CUT T5 1 T49 CUT T2 T66 T24 T5
The Open Championship CUT DNP DNP T5 T6 T24 T11 T2 T10 T29 T24 T2 T3 1 T18
PGA Championship DNP DNP DNP CUT CUT T25 T3 T61 T53 T21 CUT T34 T13 T34 T5
competition 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
The Masters 2 47 T27 CUT CUT CUT T18 T47 DNP T13 CUT T22 CUT 53 DNP DNP
PGA Championship T4 DNP T16 3 T31 T6 T18 CUT T48 CUT T7 T25 T66 CUT DNP DNP
US Open T9 T15 T26 T51 T14 CUT 3 CUT 9 T4 T35 T54 CUT T55 CUT CUT
The Open Championship 2 T34 3 T4 T7 T8 CUT CUT 1 T26 CUT T65 CUT 61 CUT T32

DNP = did not take part
CUT = cut not made
"T" split placement
Green background for victory
Yellow background for top 10.

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Ernie Els Wines - Enjoy our wines ( Memento of the original from May 9, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Ernie Els Winery website. Retrieved May 9, 2016. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.ernieelswines.com
personal data
SURNAME Els, Ernie
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Els, Theodore Ernest
BRIEF DESCRIPTION South African golfer
DATE OF BIRTH 17th October 1969
PLACE OF BIRTH Johannesburg , South Africa