| Ernie Els | |
|---|---|
 Els in 2009 | |
| Personal information | |
| Full name | Theodore Ernest Els |
| Nickname | The Big Easy |
| Born | 17 October 1969 Johannesburg, South Africa |
| Height | 6 ft 3 in (191 cm) |
| Weight | 210 lb (95 kg; 15 st) |
| Sporting nationality |  South Africa |
| Residence | Wentworth, Surrey, England George, Western Cape, South Africa Palm Beach Gardens, Florida |
| Spouse |
Liezl (m. 1998) |
| Children | 2 |
| Career | |
| Turned professional | 1989 |
| Current tour(s) | PGA Tour Champions European Senior Tour |
| Former tour(s) | PGA Tour European Tour Sunshine Tour |
| Professional wins | 78 |
| Highest ranking | 1 (22 June 1997)[1] (9 weeks) |
| Number of wins by tour | |
| PGA Tour | 19 |
| European Tour | 28 (7th all-time) |
| Japan Golf Tour | 1 |
| Asian Tour | 3 |
| Sunshine Tour | 16 |
| PGA Tour of Australasia | 5 |
| PGA Tour Champions | 6 |
| Other | 21 |
| Best results in major championships (wins: 4) | |
| Masters Tournament | 2nd: 2000, 2004 |
| PGA Championship | 3rd/T3: 1995, 2007 |
| U.S. Open | Won: 1994, 1997 |
| The Open Championship | Won: 2002, 2012 |
| Achievements and awards | |
Theodore Ernest Els (/ˈɛls/; born 17 October 1969) is a South African professional golfer. A former World No. 1, he is nicknamed "The Big Easy" due to his physical stature along with his fluid golf swing. Among his more than 70 career victories are four major championships: the U.S. Open in 1994 at Oakmont and in 1997 at Congressional, and The Open Championship in 2002 at Muirfield and in 2012 at Royal Lytham & St Annes.[2] He is one of six golfers to twice win both the U.S. Open and The Open Championship.
Other highlights in Els's 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 was the leading career money winner on the European Tour until overtaken by Lee Westwood in 2011, and was the first member of the tour to earn over €25,000,000 from European Tour events. He has held the number one spot in the Official World Golf Ranking and until 2013 held the record for weeks ranked in the top ten with 788.[3][4] Els rose to fifteenth in the world rankings after winning the 2012 Open Championship. He was elected to the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2010, on his first time on the ballot, and was inducted in May 2011.[5]
Els now primarily plays on the PGA Tour Champions.
- ^ "Week 25 1997 Ending 22 Jun 1997" (pdf). OWGR. Retrieved 20 December 2018.
- ^ "PGA Tour Media Guide – Ernie Els". PGA Tour. Retrieved 23 December 2013.
- ^ "Players who have reached the Top Ten in the Official World Golf Ranking since 1986". European Tour Official Guide 09 (38th ed.). PGA European Tour. 2009. p. 558. Retrieved 16 January 2009.
- ^ "Week 11 – Ernie Els Wins WGC-CA Championship To Jump To World Number Eight While The Puerto Rico Open Goes to a Monday Finish". Official World Golf Ranking. 15 March 2010. Archived from the original on 23 February 2012. Retrieved 23 July 2012.
- ^ "2011 Hall of Fame class: Els, Ford, Bush, Hutchison". PGA Tour. 22 September 2010. Retrieved 23 December 2013.